For the third time in the four-year tenure of Denison Head Coach Mike Deegan, the Big Red baseball team will be making the 90-minute trip from Granville to Chillicothe, Ohio for the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament. Denison secured a spot in the four-team tournament following a doubleheader sweep (8-1, 4-1) of Oberlin College on Sunday afternoon in Granville, Ohio.

The Big Red were behind the proverbial eight ball heading into Sunday's games after suffering a 3-2 setback on Saturday in the opening game of the best-of-three series with the Yeomen. Saturday's loss meant DU needed a twinbill sweep to advance to next week's postseason tournament.

Denison grabbed the lead in game one with four first-inning runs. After a lead-off walk and back-to-back singles loaded the bases with no outs, junior Eric Zmuda dropped a single into left that scored Tanner Johnson and moved the other two runners up 90 feet. Sam Frazen followed with a base hit through the left side that scored Evan Flax, while a double play ball hit by Tucker Davison scored Noah Hahn. Senior Brandon Morgan brought home the final run of the frame with a double to left center that scored Zmuda.

The Yeomen scored a run in the third but gave it back in the fourth when a throwing error to third by Blaise Dolcemaschio allowed Morgan to touch the dish. Denison extended its lead with three runs in sixth. Morgan doubled in Davison from first before coming home on a double down the right line by fellow senior Jake Meegan. After swiping third, Meegan came around to score on a base hit by Johnson.

The four-run first proved to be all the Big Red needed as sophomore starter Perley Provost pitched a gem. Provost (5-2) faced the minimum in six of his nine innings pitched while scattering just five hits, striking out two and issuing one free pass. The sophomore threw 105 pitches en route to his first-ever complete-game victory.

Offensively, Morgan finished a perfect 3-for-3 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs, while Zmuda also had three hits, an RBI and a run. Meegan was 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI, a run and two steals, while Johnson also had a hit and swiped three bags. Davison finished the opener with two hits and a run scored.

With the game one win on Sunday, the Big Red turned the final game of the series into a winner-take-all contest. In a series where the winning team had scored first, the Yeomen broke the scoreless tie in the top of the first on a wild pitch. However, Denison answered in the bottom of the frame with a single run. Johnson tripled to left center on the first pitch from starter Harrison Wollman. The sophomore center fielder came around to score the game-tying run on a ground out by Flax.

In the third, Johnson dropped a one-out single into left center. After stealing second and watching Flax draw a six-pitch walk, the DU duo put their wheels on display with a successful double steal.  Hahn drove in Johnson with a sacrifice fly to right, putting the Big Red up 2-1. Denison added two more insurance runs in the sixth on a double down the right line by Frazen and a SAC fly to center by Jack Blanchard.

Holding on to a 4-1 lead in the eighth, Denison junior Connor Hanrahan entered the game for fellow reliever Mikey Rivera who pitched five innings of two-hit ball out of the pen. Hanrahan worked around Rivera's two walks, stranding two men in scoring position.

After inducing a fly out to Meegan in left to open the ninth, Hanrahan surrendered back-to-back singles to Ian Dinsmore and Brian Carney which brought the tying run to the place in the form of Dolcemaschio. The Oberlin catcher hit a ground ball to second baseman Joe LaPlaca, who entered the game as a defensive replacement at the start of the inning. LaPlaca whipped a strike to Blanchard to get Carney at second. With runners at the corners, Hanrahan got Sam Harris to ground out to Blanchard for the final out, securing Denison third tournament berth in the last four seasons.

Rivera earned his fifth win of the year with a 100-pitch relief appearance. The freshman scattered two hits and struck out five in five scoreless frames. Rivera pitched his way out of danger multiple times, stranding five of six Oberlin base runners in scoring position. Hanrahan also allowed two hits and fanned one over the course of two shutout frames en route to his team-leading third save.

The offense in game two ran through Johnson as he had three of DU's four hits. The sophomore finished 3-for-3 with a triple, two runs and two stolen bases while Frazen drove in a run and scored another. Flax, Hahn and Blanchard had the other three RBIs.

Denison will now carry a 26-12 record into the 2016 NCAC Tournament which is scheduled to begin on Thursday in Chillicothe, Ohio. The Big Red will take on DePauw, who won a three-game series at Allegheny. The two NCAC West rivals are scheduled to take the field at 8 p.m. Wooster and Ohio Wesleyan will play in the opening game of the tournament at 3 p.m.