Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney baseball team scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to stun 23rd-ranked Minnesota State, 5-3, in an NCAA Tournament first round game Thursday afternoon in St. Cloud, Minn.

The fourth-seeded Lopers (36-17) will play Winona State (36-16) tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. in a winner's bracket game. The fifth-seeded Warriors beat RMAC-member Mesa State, 5-1, in the early game Thursday.

UNK, winning an NCAA game for the third time in school-history, needed some magic to get by a Mavericks (39-11) team that had won 27 in a row before going 0-2 in last weekend's Northern Sun Conference Intercollegiate Tournament.

Facing Central Region Pitcher of the Year Blake Schwartz, the Lopers were shut out over the first fix innings. After senior 2b Jordan Mitchelhill (Melbourne, Australia) led off the game with a single to left, UNK didn't get another hit until Mitchelhill had a two-out single in the sixth.

The Lopers loaded the bases in that inning as senior LF Brian Chritz (Arvada, Colo.) and senior 1b Andrew Haake (Beatrice) followed Mitchelhill with back-to-back hits. However, Schwartz got out of the jam thanks to a ground ball out.

Minnesota State, which recorded 15 hits in the game but left 11 runners on base, scored runs in the third and fifth innings to grab a 2-0 lead. They could've had another run but Chritz threw out RF Aaron Berner (3 for 4) at home plate to end the second.

UNK scratched a run across in its half of the seventh as senior CF Jason Trulin (2 for 4, two runs) led off with a single and eventually scored, with two outs, on a Schwartz wild pitch. Minnesota State got that run back in the bottom of the inning as 3b Patrick Dockendorf (3 for 4, two RBI's) hit an RBI single to left.

With two outs in the Loper eighth, Haake (3 for 5) hit a double down the right field line, his school-record 24th two bagger of the year. Senior catcher Felix Segovia (Las Vegas, Nev.) followed with a walk and that drove relief ace Bryce Bellin (0.74 ERA, one save) from the game.

Side arm thrower Mahlon Zimmerman (1.17 ERA, nine saves) came in and promptly picked off Haake at second to end the inning. But, when UNK faced Zimmerman in the ninth, it found success.

Trulin (2 for 4, two runs) started the rally off with an infield single and then senior 3b Luke Valerius (Golden, Colo.) and senior RF Patrick Oliver (Broomfield, Colo.) followed with singles to right to make it a 3-2 game. After a fielder's choice and wild pitch, UNK had runners at second and third with one out.

Number nine hitter Brandon Buchanan (Ft. Collins, Colo.) was up next and he laced a single to right to tie the game. Mitchelhill (3 for 5) followed with a single to left to give Kearney its first lead of the day. Finally, Haake (3 for 5) had UNK's sixth and final hit of the inning to bring home an insurance run.

Senior closer Jake Kresse (Bennington H.S.) worked around a two-out walk in the bottom of the ninth to pick up his 11th save of the season. Junior lefty Mike Loseke (Arvada, Colo.) earned his eighth win by throwing 1.2 innings of scoreless relief while senior starter Roy Metter (Phoenix, Ariz.) kept the Lopers in the game by allowing three runs in 6.1 innings.

Zimmerman dropped to 3-2 on the year by allowing five hits and four runs in one inning of work. Schwartz, who came in with a 10-2 record, gave up one run on five hits and a walk in seven full innings.