EASTERN KENTUCKY POPS SEMO's OVC BUBBLE

After Saturday's demoralizing doubleheader sweep at the hands of Southeast Missouri State University, it would have been easy for Eastern Kentucky to have its head down Sunday.

Instead, the Colonels came out fighting and won their first Ohio Valley Conference regular-season baseball championship since 1989.

In a one-game, winner-take-all showdown played in front of a season-high 2,008 fans at Capaha Field, EKU salvaged the finale of the three-game series with a resounding 11-4 victory.

And, despite Saturday's double defeat, Sunday's performance was enough to give the Colonels the OVC title. They finished the regular season with a 29-25 overall record and an 18-6 conference mark.

"I sensed it when we got here today that our kids were in a good frame of mind," said EKU coach Jim Ward. "We had a tough day (Saturday), but I'm proud of the way we bounced back and it feels really good to win the (OVC) title. It's been a while."

Southeast, which would have captured its first-ever OVC regular-season crown by winning Sunday, wound up 35-15 overall and 17-6 in league p lay, finishing one-half game behind EKU.

The Indians and Middle Tennessee officially finished in a tie for second-place in the OVC as the Raiders also wound up 17-6 after an impressive three-game weekend sweep at Eastern Illinois.

But Southeast, by virtue of winning two out of three from Middle Tennessee earlier this year, will be the No. 2 seed for the six-team OVC Tournament that will be played Thursday through Saturday in Cape Girardeau.

"Congratulations to Eastern Kentucky. They're a really good ballclub and they played a wonderful game today," said Southeast coach Mark Hogan. "You just have to tip your cap to them. They were better than us. We didn't bring our `A' game, but they had a lot to do with that."

EKU got a big-time pitching performance from sophomore right-hander Chip Albright, who entered the game with an earned-run average of 6.43.

Albright (7-7) hurled all nine innings and, even though he allowed 10 hits, did not walk a batter, which helped his cause greatly. He struck out five.

"Chip has been a quality starter the last two years," Ward said. "He's struggled some lately, but he really threw a lot of quality pitches today."

Said Hogan of Albright, "He was tremendous. I didn't dream anybody would throw nine innings against us."

Tommy Thomas (6-3) took the loss as he allowed six hits and five runs in 4 2/3 innings. Just two of the runs off Thomas were earned as the Indians faltered some defensively with three errors.

"We helped them out some, but they also came up with a lot of big hits up and down the lineup," Hogan said.

Adam Basil, batting better than .400, was EKU's big offensive weapon Sunday. He had two of the Colonels' 11 hits, including a huge three-run home run. Basil finished with five runs batted in.

Kiley Vaughn, Jason Sharp and Gabe Thomas each added two hits for the Colonels, who also got a homer from Tom White.

Phil Warren paced Southeast with three hits, including a home run, and two RBIs. Jeremy Johnson, like Basil batting better than .400, added two hits.

The Colonels got off to a good start with two unearned runs in the second inning. They made it 5-0 with a three-run fifth, the big blow being White's two-run homer. A single tally in the sixth opened up a 6-0 bulge.

Southeast finally gave the huge crowd something to cheer about in the bottom of the sixth. Charlie Marino singled and came home on Darin Kinsolving's two-out single, then Warren blasted his seventh homer of the season over the left-field fence to pull the Indians within 6-3.

But EKU answered right back in the seventh as Basil ripped a three-run homer off Southeast reliever Brandon Smith. That pretty much sealed the verdict as the Colonels cruised the rest of the way.

"Basil's home run really broke our backs," said Hogan.

Now the Indians, who have finished second in the OVC's regular season for the fourth time in six years under Hogan, will try to put Sunday's disappointment behind them as they prepare to host the league tournament.

Although the official pairings won't be determined until today, the Indians will definitely play at 8:30 p.m. Thursday in the second winner's bracket semifinal. EKU, which will play at 5 p.m. Thursday, and Southeast both receive a first-round bye.

"Hopefully not winning today will motivate us for the tournament," said Hogan.