MIDWAY, Ky. - After playing a doubleheader so bizarre it defied explanation on Thursday, it's only fitting that the Midway and Ohio Christian baseball teams would need a winner-take-all elimination matchup on Friday.

After the Eagles cruised to an easy 11-0 win in the opener, they immediately jumped out to a 4-0 lead in game two, only for Ohio Christian to ride timely offense, great relief pitching and a jaw-dropping, game-saving throw from centerfield by Matthew Keener to secure a 7-6, 12-inning win in the River States Conference Championship opening round.

The best-of-three series will now feature a winner-take-all game in Midway Friday morning for the right to move onto the final site in Chillicothe, Ohio next week.

GAME ONE

Entering having won nine of 11 games and facing a TrailBlazer team on a nine-game losing streak, things went according to plan for Midway in the opener. The Eagles had 13 hits while OCU didn't get its first until the sixth inning against Eagle ace Owen Clark.

Clark continued his excellent season by recording 10 strikeouts with no walks and just two hits in the first complete game of his college career.

His offense provided more than enough to secure a run-rule win, scoring first on a Britten Robinson RBI single in the second before exploding for seven runs in the third.

All 10 Midway players who had an at-bat reached base at least once and the only two to not get hits were both able to record RBI groundouts.

Shane Taylor had three hits, two runs scored and an RBI, with Barrett McGill driving in two runs and having two hits.

GAME TWO

Very little seemed to have changed when Midway scored four runs in the bottom of the first, all of them a direct result of botched fly balls by the Trailblazer defense.

But with its season on the line, Ohio Christian battled back by scoring six consecutive runs, including a four-spot in the third inning.

The Eagles seemed like they'd take back control, opening the fifth with four straight hits, highlighted by a two-run McGill single that tied the game at five. With runners on first and second and still no one out, the Trailblazers went to their bullpen, kicking off a crazy sequence where OCU pitchers were able to escape one jam after another.

After a sacrifice bunt moved runners to second and third, Will Bishop retired the next two batters and worked two-and-two-thirds innings of scoreless relief. He then gave way to Ridge Clark, who immediately got out of a two-on, one-out jam he inherited.

Clark, who hadn't thrown more than 38 pitches in a game all year, threw 85 while not allowing a run over five-and-a-third.

All told, the Midway offense had 13 at-bats with runners in scoring position after tying the game at five, and mustered just one hit, which briefly looked like it might be enough.

With a runner on second and two outs in the ninth, Ayden Sciandra looked to have delivered a game-winning hit to center, only for Keener, who had just been inserted into the game in the inning's top half, to throw an absolute laser to home, gunning down Nick Eastham to extend the game.

Keener wasn't done with the heroics either. With two outs and nobody on in the 12th, he hit a triple to right field, then came around to score the winning run when ensuing batter Karson Runk singled him home in his seventh at-bat of the game.

It was the only run allowed in seven innings of relief by Blake Kincaid who scattered seven hits with five strikeouts.

Tomorrow's elimination game is set to begin at 11 a.m.

Follow Midway Eagles Athletics