Photo courtesy of Iowa Central Athletics: the Iowa Central baseball squad celebrates their regional championship on Sunday night in Carroll.

CARROLL — Iowa Central became very familiar with Southeastern in a span of two days.

The 13th-ranked Tritons (42-15 overall) went back and forth with the Blackhawks (48-13) in a win-or-go-home contest for the Region XI championship on Sunday at Merchants Park.

It was their third meeting in two days of a rollercoaster ride weekend. Down to their final strike, Iowa Central punched its ticket to the district championship with a 9-8 victory in the bottom of the 10th inning.

The Tritons now host Dakota County in a three-game district set for the right to advance to the NJCAA Div. II World Series. Iowa Central, which last reached the World Series in 2010, will be the home team on Friday at 3 p.m. at Rogers Park. The next contest will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday back on the Tritons’ turf.

If needed, a deciding Game 3 will start 45 minutes following the second contest on Saturday, with the home team being decided by a coin flip.

Iowa Central trailed 8-7 in the finale against Southeastern, with two outs and two strikes on hitter Spencer Pederson and the bases loaded. Pederson connected with a slider over the left fielder’s head to score Bryson Carpenter for the tying run, as well as pinch-runner TJ Logan.

The Tritons stormed the field in a dramatic celebration with the Region XI championship in the bag.

Pederson finished the contest 3-for-6 with three RBI. Carpenter was 3-for-5 with an RBI.

Cooper Nicholson had two extra-base hits, a home run, a double and drove in a run.

Chayton Fischer had two hits and drove in a run. Also driving in runs were Sawyer Stein and Luke Bohonek.

Chris McCormack (9-0) came in for relief and earned another victory. McCormack threw four pitches in the final frame.

After winning 12-3 on Friday, Southeastern — the ICCAC regular season champion — earned a 17-7 victory over DMACC to set up the championship with Iowa Central.

In a do-or-die contest for the Blackhawks, they held a 12-11 lead in Sunday’s afternoon contest with the Tritons heading into the eighth inning. Southeastern then scored a run in the eighth and plated seven runs in the ninth for a 20-11 victory.

For Iowa Central in the opener on Sunday, Jake Busson had two home runs and drove in six. Eric Nuno added a double and three RBI.

Also driving in runs were Carpenter and Isaiah Scott.

Southeastern swept the Tritons in three regular season games, outscoring them 36-13 in the three contests.

At regionals, Iowa Central and Southeastern combined to score 63 runs in a three-game set.

The Tritons and Dakota County (37-16) met twice this season, with the Blue Knights winning 12-1 and Iowa Central earning a 12-2 victory.

Dakota County, which is located in Rosemount, Minn., has won 20 consecutive games.