DECATUR, Illinois—It's Championship Sunday and Denison is one of two teams left standing at the NCAA Division III Baseball Regional in Decatur. The Big Red (26-12) will play the nation's top-ranked team, Washington University-St. Louis (31-3) at Workman Family Field on the campus of Millikin University at 2 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. CDT).

How To Watch: Millikin University is providing live video and live stats for all games at the regional tournament.

You're Telling Me There's a Chance? For Denison to win the regional championship and advance to next week's Division III Championship in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the Big Red will need to defeat WashU twice on Sunday. WashU enters today's game with a perfect 3-0 record at the regional after a 2-0 win over Illinois College, a 5-2 win over Millikin and yesterday's 8-1 victory over Denison.  Denison is 3-1 at the regional. They opened with a 4-0 victory over Millikin and defeated Webster 8-1 on Friday. After suffering the loss to the Bears, Denison responded with an 8-2 win over Webster to advance to Sunday's championship round.

Use What Cha Got: While there are no probable starting pitchers for Denison on Sunday nearly everyone is on the board ready to try and help the Big Red hoist a trophy. Henry Haack's 7.2 IP on Saturday night against Webster was inspiring and it will take similar performances on Sunday for DU to achieve their goal.  WashU has started Mitchell Black (8 IP, 0 ER, 6 Ks), Ryan Loutos (9 IP, 2 ER, 11 Ks), and Troy Bauer (7 IP, 1 ER, 4 Ks) in three games. On paper, the Bears have an edge in terms to rested pitchers and depth.

Hey Tony: We told you not to sleep on Anthony Ruggieri in our initial preview and the senior proved again on Saturday why he is someone head coach Mike Deegan can lean on when things get tight. In his last two NCAA regional elimination games (2019 vs. Adrian; 2021 vs. Webster) Ruggieri is 8-for-8 at the plate.  In this year's regional he is leading Denison with a .571 batting average (4-for-7) with a double, a walk and one RBI.

Steady as she Goes: Denison has used seven pitchers in the regional who have combined for a 1.50 ERA in 36.0 innings pitched. The opposition boasts a 5.03 ERA in 34 IP. Henry Haack leads Denison with 10.1 innings pitched in the regional while Fleming follows at 9.0 IP after his complete game opened the tournament on Thursday.

Waiting on a Moment: Don't be surprised to see Denison mashers Will Krushena and Brian McAuliffe break out of their mini slumps today against WashU. Despite combining for seven hits over the last four games, Krushena is second on the team with four RBI at the regional. The pair has been picked up by right fielder Danny Alvarez who is batting .429 (6-for-14) with three doubles, three runs scored and five RBI.

More than the Average Bear: Something to keep an eye on during today's game. WashU junior shortstop Caleb Durbin is batting .364 while leading the team with 15 doubles and five home runs. The real eye-opening stat is that he has struck out only one time in 132 at bats this season.

Feels Like the First Time: Denison and WashU are both playing for their first Division III World Series appearance today. WashU has made 13 NCAA Regional appearances in program history and Denison is making its third-straight regional appearance. Either way, someone will be punching their first ticket to Iowa on Sunday.