April 25, 2010, Millington, Tenn. â€"  For the first time since it won the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball title in 2001, DePauw is in the championship game after eliminating Rhodes by a 5-3 score early this morning at USA Stadium.

DePauw scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth to break a 2-2 tie and Andy Manson (pictured) pitched a complete game with 13 strikeouts as the Tigers lifted their overall record to 24-16. The Lynx dropped to 26-16 with the loss.

Ben Gardner led off the DePauw first with a walk and moved to third on Taylor Hoffman's single. Gardner scored when Rob McPike hit into a double play. The Tigers made it 2-0 in the second when Jon Newman led off with a triple and scored on Drew Holy's sacrifice fly.

The Lynx knotted the contest at 2-2 in the fourth as Travis Perkins reached on a walk before Brett Lindsey reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on a DePauw error. Perkins scored on Chris Conkell's single before Lindsey was picked off. Lynden Pindling followed with a single that scored Conkell and evened the score at 2-2.

Jason Cohen doubled with one out in the DePauw half of the fourth and moved to third on Newman's single. Cohen scored on Alex Wright's sacrifice fly. Holy singled Newman to third and stole second. After Sam Linette walked to load the bases, Alex Jacques delivered a two-run double which gave DePauw a 5-2 lead.

Rhodes added one more in the fifth as Brooks Royer singled and moved to second on Brandon Valentine's grounder. Royer advanced to third on an error and scored on Perkins' single.

Newman and Jacques each had two of DePauw's seven hits, while Perkins collected two of Rhodes' seven. Manson improved to 3-0 with the win and his 13 strikeouts were a career high. Andy Meier dropped to 0-1 with the defeat.