Kearney, Neb. - The Nebraska-Kearney baseball team got eight RBI"s from senior Blake Cover and several newcomers had big weekends as the Loper baseball team took three of four from the Northeastern State Riverhawks in Tahlequah, Okla.

UNK swept Saturday's games, 8-5 & 9-6, and the won a third straight, 7-6, on Sunday before dropping the series finale, 15-7. That game was cut to 6 innings due to poor weather.

A preseason All-American, Cover went 8 for 16 in the series with all eight hits being singles. Besides leading the team in RBI's, he also scored a team-best 5 runs and went 2 for 2 on stolen bases

Junior right fielder Patrick Oliver (Broomfield, Colo.) went 6 for 10 against NSU, knocked in 6 runs and was perfect in the field with 5 putouts.

Also having strong Loper debuts were junior 2b Jordan Mitchelhill (5 for 10, 4 runs, 2 RBI's), junior catcher Felix Segovia (.429), junior 3b Luke Valerius (.364) and junior left fielder Brian Chirtz (.333).

On the mound, senior Jared Loschen (Kearney H.S.) won the series opener by allowing three earned runs over six full innings. He fanned five and walked just one as UNK scored five runs in the 3rd inning to take control.

In the next game, junior newcomer Andre O'Connor (Prescott Valley, Ariz.) struck out six Riverhawks and allowed only one run over the first five innings.

Also earning a win was junior Todd Stachura (Scotia), who redshirted last year, with veteran Ricky Muir (Easton, Conn.) picking up a save in the third game.

Weather permitting, UNK will play Augustana and Wayne State this weekend in Golden, Colo.