Paducah, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky senior Will Whisenant stroked a two-run single in the top of the eighth to cap off a three-run rally and lead the Colonels to a 6-4 win over Morehead State (28-27) in the first round of the 2005 O'Reilly OVC Baseball Tournament on Wednesday. EKU (24-29) advances to face top-seeded Jacksonville State tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. (EST).

"You've got to win the first one," said EKU head coach Elvis Dominguez. "I couldn't be more pleased with the performance we got on the mound from McKenzie (Willoughby), Andy Polzin and Dickie (Richard Boothe) there at the end. [Their starter] kept us off balance the first four or five innings but we finally made some adjustments and started going the other way off him. It took us a couple of innings but we executed and played some great defense behind our pitchers. We got some timely hits over the course of the game, especially by Bryan Stevenson and Will Whisenant."

Eastern trailed 4-3 at the start of the eighth before tying the game off a run-scoring single from senior Bryan Stevenson, which plated senior Derrick Bussell. Whisenant followed with a single to center, scoring Stevenson and junior Brett Bolger, to put the Colonels on top for good.

Senior Andy Polzin came on in relief of sophomore starter McKenzie Willoughby (8-3) in the bottom half of the inning and pitched the next 1.2 innings with two strikeouts. Senior Richard Boothe came on in the bottom of the ninth with two on and two out, and picked up his team-leading fifth save of the year by forcing OVC Player of the Year Lance Seasor to line out to second to end the game.

Willoughby earned his eighth victory by going 7.0 innings with six strikeouts. The sophomore scattered six hits, three of which came in the fourth inning, and allowed four runs en route to the win. Bussell, Stevenson and Whisenant each racked up two RBI to lead the Colonels to victory.

Morehead's first two batters reached base to start the game, as Willoughby hit leadoff batter Pete Troyer with a pitch before surrendering a single to Kevin Bryant. Troyer came around to score moments later off a groundout by Seasor to give the Eagles an early 1-0 advantage.

MSU starter Shane Lucci made the lead last until the third, when he surrendered a two-run homer to Bussell. Lucci retired the first eight batters he faced before freshman Lucas Waters came through with a two-out infield single. Bussell then gave EKU its first lead of the game with a two-run shot to left-center (his third of the year).

The Eagles answered right back with two more runs in the fourth compliments of a two-run double by Paul Rhodes. Eastern dodged a bullet in the frame, when Rhodes tried to score from second off a single by Zac Carr and was nailed at the plate (9-3-2). Morehead's 3-2 lead held up until the top of the sixth, when Stevenson tied the game with a RBI single to left (scoring Waters).

Kevin Bryant reclaimed the lead for Morehead with a two-out RBI single in the seventh, giving his team a 4-3 lead. Waters, who went 2-for-3 with two runs scored in the game, drew a leadoff walk to start the eighth. Eastern tried to move Waters up with a sacrifice bunt, but Morehead was able to nail the freshman at second.

Reliever Ryan Perkins (1-1) came on for Lucci, who went 7.1 with five hits allowed, and issued a walk to the first, and only, batter he faced (Brett Bolger). Perkins was pulled in favor of closer Dan Klausmeier, but the All-OVC Second-Team selection could not escape the jam as a base knock by Stevenson tied the game at 4-all. Stevenson moved into scoring position by swiping his second base of the game, then came around to score, along with Bolger, on Whisenant's two-run single.

Perkins took the loss for Morehead, despite facing just one batter. Bryant led the Eagles with a 3-for-5 effort at the plate, while Rhodes drove in a team-high two runs.

The Colonels return to action tomorrow evening when they take on No. 1 JSU at 7:30 p.m. (EST) at Brooks Stadium. EKU, which will start freshman Shane Zegarac (3-6) against OVC Freshman of the Year Donovan Hand (9-3), went 1-2 against the Gamecocks this season.

"I told our guys, 'let's not worry about tomorrow yet, let's just enjoy tonight and we'll worry about tomorrow around noon time'," said Dominguez. "I'm definitely pleased with the fact that we advanced to the winner's bracket. Tomorrow is a key game for us. They're a very good club that won the league for a reason, and we've got our work cut out for us. But we know what's ahead and we know what we need to do."