CHILLICOTHE, Ohio -- (RV) Point Park University split its two games Sunday at the River States Conference Baseball Championship and as a result advanced to the championship round Monday starting at 11:00 a.m.

The No. 2 seed Pioneers (37-13, 18-6) started off the day with a tough battle in a 9-7 loss to No. 1 IU Southeast. That dropped them to the loser bracket Sunday night where they pulled away from No. 4 Midway (Ky.) University for a 13-3 victory.

That puts Point Park vs. IU Southeast in the RSC Championship finals Monday (11:00 a.m. ET). Point Park will have to win twice for the title and the NAIA National Championship automatic bid whereas IU Southeast needs just one win.

Point Park is now 3-1 on the weekend after Sunday's games. The matchup versus IU Southeast was the winner's bracket final, and the game that would determine who was in the driver's seat lived up to the billing.

IU SOUTHEAST 9, POINT PARK 7
Sunday's opener had plenty of drama and big moments with home runs, clutch hits and gutty pitching performances on both sides.

The first big swing was Gianmarco Marcelletti's grand slam in the third inning. That put Point Park ahead, 4-0. IU Southeast cut the deficit in half with two runs in the fourth, which included Brody Tanksley's solo home run to start.

Point Park upped the lead to 6-2 on Ed Pfluger's two-run double in the fifth. In the bottom half, Brandon Boxer doubled home two runs to bring IU Southeast within 6-4.

Point Park starter Joathan Rivera went up until that point but exited after 4.2 innings with the Pioneers leading. The IU Southeast bullpen covered the final 5.0 innings after starter Lane Osterling gave up five runs on one hit and four walks.

With two outs in the IU Southeast sixth inning, Trevor Campbell delivered a big homer, a two-run shot that tied the game at 6-6. Marco Romero followed with an RBI double to push the Grenadiers in front for the first time, 7-6.

Point Park drew even at 7-7 when two-out singles by Marcelletti, Pfluger and Jordon Campbell came in the top of the seventh.

Trevor Campbell had another big hit in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs and the bases loaded, he drove in two with a single for the eventual winning runs.

IU Southeast's fifth pitcher of the day was Garrett Hill, who hammered down the eighth and ninth innings scoreless to get the save in 2.0 innings. The Grenadiers bullpen gave up two runs in 5.0 innings.

Point Park hd four pitchers in the game with Leo Diaz taking the loss in 2.1 innings. Ramon Medina and Jose Moreno were in for middle relief. Rivera struck out six and walked two as the starter. He held the Grenadiers scoreless the first three innings before getting into trouble in the fifth.

POINT PARK 13, MIDWAY 3
The Pioneers had a great start and a great finish to their win under the lights versus Midway (Ky.). Ed Pfluger's three-run homer capped off a four-run bottom of the first inning. The Pioneers later made a very close game and bigger margin with nine runs on eight hits in the bottom of the eighth.

The biggest star of the night for Point Park was starting pitcher Javier Cardoso, who threw 7.0 innings before handing a 4-1 lead over to the bullpen. In his best performance of the year, the right-hander held the Eagles to just one run on six hits while striking out eight and walking just one.

The Point Park first started with Luis Hernandez getting a single. Jared Campbell followed with a base hit of his own, and when it took a bad hop off the mound, Hernandez kept running, rounded third and scored from first.

After a walk to Gianmarco Marcelletti, the Pioneers had four runs in four batters when Pfluger hit a bomb to the scoreboard in left field. It was his second of the tournament and the 31st of his career.

In between that and the big finish in the eighth, Midway starter Blake Kincaid held the Pioneers scoreless. He was pitching on two days rest, and after the rough first inning, he settled in to blank Point Park from the second through seventh innings.

Throwing over 100 pitches, Kincaid shook off the first inning, worked around 11 hits, struck out seven and walked just one. With two on and nobody out in the Point Park eighth, Kincaid was taken out in favor of the bullpen.

The Pioneers extended things with another seven hits and nine runs after that. Point Park was stringing together base knocks with Isaac Santana, Edwin De La Rosa and Luis Mujica all driving in runs at the bottom of the batting order.

The lineup turned over for Luis Hernadez's RBI double, Jared Campbell's sacrifice fly and Gianmarco Marcelletti's RBI on a drive to to the wall in right. Before the inning was through, Carlos Burroughs drove in a run with a base hit, Santana did so for the second time in the inning, and Ty Andrews added an RBI single.

Cardoso came up big when the Pioneers needed it in the loser's bracket. He went out and calmly tossed 7.0 innings and was threatened just a couple of times. He came through those spots and held the Eagles to just a single run.

Point Park brought in Easton Klein for the eighth inning. Pitching on short rest, he filled in 0.2 innings before Leo Diaz finished off the final 1.1 innings for his seventh save of the year.

Despite the final score, Diaz came in to protect a 4-3 lead in the eighth. He got a flyout on the first batter he faced to strand the tying run at second. He then worked a 1-2-3 ninth to end it.

Point Park finished with 18 hits. Hernandez was 3 for 5 with two runs, Santana was 3 for 5 and drove in two, Pfluger was 2 for 3 with his three-run homer. With two hits apiece were De La Rosa, Mujica and Jared Campbell.