Kearney, Neb. - Senior Brian Bello had four hits in the first game, and sophomore Braden Box had four hits in the second game, to lead the Mesa State baseball team to a sweep of Nebraska-Kearney, 9-6 and 9-5, Saturday afternoon at Memorial Field.

Mesa (19-10, 17-6 RMAC), leaders of the Mountain Division, have now won the first three games of the series. The Lopers, still in first in the Plains Division, fall to 19-10 (15-6 RMAC).

In the nightcap, UNK grabbed its second lead of the weekend when sophomore catcher Chandler Klute (Kearney) hit an RBI single to left in the bottom of the first that brought home senior first baeman Andrew Haake (2 for 4, two runs.)

After Mesa scored a run in the top of the second, senior shortstop G.J. Henry (Denver, Colo.) hit an opposite field homer, a two-run shot, over the left field wall. A second-year Loper, it marked Henry's first career homer in a Kearney uniform.

UNK again used the long ball to retake the lead as Haake (Beatrice) belted his team-leading sixth dinger of the year to lead off the third and make it a 4-3 ball game.

However, Mesa scored three in the fourth, one in the fifth and two more in the sixth to take control. During this stretch, Mesa had nine hits, including a two-run homer down the left field line off the bat of Bello (2 for 4, two runs, two RBI's).

Junior Dylan Evans improved to 4-2 as he fanned six and allowed just six hits in six full innings. A shortstop making his first start of the series, Box went 4 for 5 with two runs scored as the Maverick lead off hitter. Overall, Mesa had 16 hits with clean up hitter Jeff Popick (3 for 3, two runs and two RBI's) also having a big effort.

Besides Haake, senior Jordan Mitchelhill (Melbourne, Australia) went 2 for 4 from the lead off spot.

In the early game, Mesa took advantage of six walks and two hit batters in the first three innings to get out to a 6-2 lead. The Mavericks then tacked on two more in the fifth on the strength of three hits and a Loper error.

UNK, which out hit the Mavs 10-8, made things interesting by scoring four times in its half of the sixth but left the bases full in the third and seventh innings to prevent a comeback. Overall, the Lopers stranded 11 base runners.

Bello finished 4 for 4 with three runs and three RBI's with freshman catcher Colton Schoelkopf going 2 for 4 with two RBI's. On the mound, Jared Christensen (3-2) picked up the win by going five innings and Taylor Halimton got the final two outs to earn a save.

Mitchelhill again collected two hits for UNK with senior catcher Felix Segovia (Las Vegas, Nev.) going 2 for 4 and senior OF Brian Chritz (Arvada, Colo.) hitting a two-run homer in the sixth.

Tomorrow's series finale has been moved up one hour to an 11:00 a.m. start.