Wigan Athletic 3-2 Barnsley
- Published
Powell had also scored a last-minute winner in the previous match against Rotherham
Substitute Nick Powell scored an 11-minute hat-trick as Wigan boosted their Championship survival hopes by coming from 2-0 down to beat Barnsley.
The former Manchester United forward came on in the 66th minute and scored with a free-kick five minutes later before tucking in to level.
He won the game with a penalty after being pushed by Angus MacDonald to leave Wigan four points from safety.
Adam Armstrong had fired the Tykes in front before Ryan Kent's stunning shot.
Matty James thought he had earned Barnsley a point when he lashed a shot into the net late on, but it was ruled out for a push on Wigan keeper Jakob Haugaard.
Wigan's victory lifts them above Blackburn to 22nd in the Championship table, four points behind Bristol City, who play their game in hand against QPR on Good Friday.
There was little evidence of the drama to come during a drab first half of limited openings. Armstrong put the visitors ahead with their only shot on target by slotting the ball home on the rebound after Kent's shot came back off the post.
When Kent cut in from the wing to fire in the second with his left foot there seemed no way back for the Latics, only for Powell to turn the game on its head.
The 23-year-old had also come off the bench to score a 90th-minute winner against Rotherham on Saturday but his impact was even more telling as Wigan collected back-to-back home league wins for the first time this season.
He pulled one back when his 71st-minute free-kick was parried into the net by Davies and levelled two minutes later when the Barnsley keeper could not hold Ryan Colclough's shot.
And the comeback was complete when he drilled his penalty straight down the middle to give the Latics an unlikely victory.
Wigan interim manager Graham Barrow: "On talent alone Nick Powell deserves to be in the Premier League and that's why you put him in that bracket.
"I am just glad for the supporters that we have given them something back for sticking with us all season; we have just got to carry on now. It would be fantastic to take it to the final day of the season, if we can't do it before."
"I'd be lying if I said I thought he could go on and get a hat-trick but then you know he's always going to make an impact.
"At 2-0 down with so long left in the game it was by no means over, but Nick got the goals so early and made the win a possibility."
Barnsley boss Paul Heckingbottom: "At 2-0, we were defending well and they had lots of shots from distance and we weren't really troubled. We were a constant threat on the counter.
"After the second goal, we started to control the ball a lot better and it was a crazy five minutes.
"We focus on us and our players and mistakes are mistakes. You have to limit them if you want to play as high as you can and we know that.
"It's cost us the game, and the players concerned know about it. They know exactly what they've done wrong and if that happens they don't play."