RICHMOND, Ky. - Highlighted by a seven-run inning and a sterling middle relief effort by sophomore righthander Josh Thomas, coach Jim Ward's Eastern Kentucky University Colonels head into this weekend's important clash with Ohio Valley Conference rival Southeast Missouri on an uptick.

EKU rallied from an early three-run deficit, boosted by a seven-run fourth inning, to pin an 11-3 defeat on Xavier (20-32) at Turkey Hughes Field Thursday afternoon. The Colonels head to Southeast Missouri this weekend for a three-game series with a one and one-half game lead on Southeast Missouri and a two and one-half lead on Middle Tennessee. EKU stands just one victory away from clinching its first regular season's title since 1989.

"We had a big inning today, got some clutch hits and our pitchers threw relaxed throughout the game," said Ward, who last Sunday won his 600^th game at Eastern with an 11-7 victory over Middle Tennessee.

"Josh Thomas had an outstanding outing and took a big step forward for us today. He could help us next week when we get into tourney (OVC) play. He had good command and had a little pop on his fastball today."

Thomas threw three innings of no-hit baseball, facing the minimum nine batters, after the first batter he faced, shortstop Jeff Crandell walked and was erased on a double play.

Junior leftfielder Gabe Thomas led the Colonels' 14-hit assault on Musketeer pitching by going 3-5 with a double and his ninth home run, a solo blast to left field to open the fifth inning. Jason Sharp hit a two-run homer, his 11^th, in the fourth inning uprise and went 2-4 on the day. Sophomore designated hitter Aaron Williams was 2-2 with two RBI's, senior first baseman Lee Chapman was 2-5 with three runs batted in and freshman second baseman Robby Price was 2-3 with an RBI.

Senior lefthander Shane Billau moved his record to 2-1 by going the first four innings and allowing three runs, two earned runs, on six hits. Junior lefty Keith Murnane worked the last two innings, allowing two hits and striking out one as Eastern moved its overall record to 28-23.

Ward was happy for the win and began looking ahead to the weekend series with SEMO.

"We have our pitching lined out, we have matured as a team and we've been playing pretty good defense. We've led the whole way and there is a trophy attached to placing first and that's always been one of our goals. So it would be a good achievement for this team that has worked so hard and who has played good, steady baseball all season long," Ward said.

"We also wanted to improve our midweek play and we had a goal of 30 wins. If we can win a couple this weekend, that will be another accomplishment for this team.

"We feel good about these last two weekends. We know it will come down to pitching and we're sticking with the three guys that have taken us to this point. We'll start (Scott) Santa and (Corey) Eagle on Saturday and come back with Chip (Albright) on Sunday. We also have Spencer Boley (sophomore righthander who leads the staff in ERA at 2.41 and has a 3-0 record) waiting in relief in any of the three games if we feel we need him," Ward concluded.

Senior second baseman Adam Basil leads the Colonel regulars in batting with his .419 average, while Williams is hitting .355, sophomore shortstop Kiley Vaughn, .343; sophomore DH Chris Frailly, .333; Sharp, .319; Price, .316; Thomas, .309; Chapman, .307; and sophomore catcher Mike Schneider, .303.

Pitching records for the three starters show Santa at 6-3, Eagle at 8-5 and Albright at 6-7.

Eastern stands 17-4 in league play, having won three OVC series outright and taking four others two games to one. Southeast Missouri is 33-14 overall, including 19-5 at home, and 15-5 in the league. MTSU is in third place at 14-6.