AMELIA, OHIO -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology won a pair of games to force a final championship contest in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament, before the Engineers fell in the league title matchup.

The Engineers were forced to play all three games on Saturday, which began with a 9-5 victory over Franklin.  Rose-Hulman relied on a walk-off home run by sophomore Keenan Long (Park Ridge, Ill./ Northwestern University) to defeat Transylvania 5-4 in 10 innings to force the additional title contest.

Rose-Hulman succumbed to the fatigue of 28 innings in one day in the nightcap, however, as Transylvania captured a 16-10 victory to qualify for the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The Engineers complete the regular season with a 31-13 mark for the second most victories in school history.  Rose-Hulman will await the release of the 54-team NCAA Division III Tournament field on Monday to see if the team will be awarded one of 14 at-large bids to the event. 

The Mideast Regional of the tournament will take place at Art Nehf Field beginning Wednesday.  Either six or eight teams will make their way to Terre Haute for the event.

"I really commend our team on our effort today.  We gave it everything that we had and left it on the field.  We played hard to the end, even though we were kind of in an no-win situation with the extra game today," said Rose-Hulman head coach Jeff Jenkins.

The marathon day was highlighted by the game two walk off home run by Long that forced the second championship game.  His blast to center field snapped a 4-4 tie and gave the Engineers their fourth victory in two days.

The home run followed a dramatic top of the 10th inning that featured the Engineers working out of a bases loaded, no out jam with no runs scoring.  Senior Sam Deters (Teutopolis, Ill.) recorded a ground out to first base, a foul out to Long and a strike out looking to Nick Moser to keep the score tied at 4-4.

Long slapped two hits and scored three runs with the walk off home run to lead the Engineer offense.  Junior Chandler Kent (Antioch, Ill.) and senior Michael Matsui (Joliet, Ill./Plainfield South) each slapped three hits for Rose-Hulman, including two RBIs for Matsui and one run and one RBI for Kent.

The Engineers rallied from a 4-3 deficit with one run in the eighth inning to force the extra frames.  Matsui lined a two-out, run scoring single to plate Long with the tying run.

Deters improved to 2-2 on the season with the victory.  Freshman Gannon Sadzeck (Crystal Lake, Ill./Central) tossed seven strong innings and allowed four runs to keep the Engineers within striking distance. 

In Saturday's 9-5 victory over Franklin, Kent led the Engineers with three hits, including a two-run triple, and three RBIs.  Sophomore Andrew Bilse (Munster) put the team ahead 5-4 with a sixth inning triple and had two hits, three runs scored and two RBIs for Rose-Hulman.

Other key contributors to the offense included sophomore Tim Tepe (Cincinati, Ohio/Elder) with two singles and one run scored; senior Gabe Focke (St. Leon/East Central) with two singles, one run and one RBI; and freshman Michael Kovacs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller) with two hits, two sacrifices and one RBI.

Senior Luis Bougrat (Franklin, Tenn./Battle Ground Academy) battled to the complete game victory on the mound for the Engineers against Franklin.  Bougrat improved to 6-2 on the campaign by scattering eight hits and allowed five earned runs in the victory.

In the nightcap, Transylvania scored seven times in the second and six times in the fourth to earn the win.  Phil Blakely slapped three hits with five RBIs, and Bryan Baker added a bases loaded triple to lead the Pioneer offensive effort.

For Rose-Hulman, Long finished 3-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs in an effort that included his seventh home run of the season.  Long blasted a total of four home runs in the two day tournament.

Sophomore Troy Eveslage (Ramsey/North Harrison) pitched in with two singles in the nightcap, and Matsui had two RBIs in the contest.  Freshman Ken Carpenter (Beavercreek, Ohio) provided the most effective pitching in the contest, allowing one run and two hits in 4 2/3 innings of work.