Kearney, Neb. - The Nebraska-Kearney baseball team scored six runs after two were out in the eighth inning to rally past Winona State, 10-4, in an NCAA Tournament winner's bracket game Sunday in St. Cloud, Minn.

The Central Regional has battled rainy weather since Friday with the Loper/WSU Warrior game being pushed back day two days and then going through two rain delays today.

It rained so hard this afternoon, after the fifth inning, both teams had to change uniforms when play resumed at 5:45 p.m. First pitch was thrown at 10:00 a.m.; the first delay lasted from 11:15 a.m.-1:15 p.m. and the rain came again at 1:45 p.m.

During the long breaks, UNK and Winona played ping pong, jousted and even did a war reenactment.

The Lopers (37-17), tying the 1981 Kearney State team for wins in a season, will play Monday at 1:00 p.m. against the winner of St. Cloud State/Winona, which takes place late Sunday night.

If UNK wins that game, it would advance to the championship vs. Mesa State, who eliminated Minnesota State Sunday night, 7-4. The Mavericks would have to beat the Lopers in order to get to the D2 World Series. 

If UNK were to lose to St. Cloud/Winona, it would then have to beat Mesa and then beat St. Cloud/Winona for the region championship. 

"I'm extremely proud of our baseball program to the point I don't have words to describe the resiliency for which they have shown. We didn't just go through a 45 minute delay but one that lasted days. The schedule has been adjusted and conditions have been very tough but we have shown our competitiveness and ability to battle until the final out," said head coach Damon Day.

After leaving 10 runners on base over the first five innings, the Loper bats woke up in the sixth when senior 1b Andrew Haake (3 for 4) belted a two out, two run homer to bring Kearney within a run. The dinger, Haake's 11th of the year, is the only long ball so far in this regional (six full games).

In the UNK seventh, senior CF Jason Trulin (1 for 2, three runs) led off with a double. Winona then committed its fourth error of the game to put Truln at second and senior 3b Luke Valerius (Lakewood, Colo.) at first.

After a sac bunt by senior RF Patrick Oliver (Broomfield, Colo.), senior LF Daren Grace (1 for 5, three RBI's) brought home Trulin with a ground out to short. The speedy Trulin (Blair) took off on first contact and Winona, even with its infield drawn in, didn't make an attempt to throw home.

Winona brought in its closer, Derek Wojcik, to start the eighth. On Thursday, UNK scored four runs in the top of the ninth to beat Minnesota State and its closer.

Wojick (2-4) was wild from the get go, hitting senior 2b Jordan Mitchelhill (Australia) to start the inning. With two outs and Mitchelhill at third, Wojick walked four straight batters to give the Lopers a 6-4 lead. Valerius knocked in the go-ahead run when, with a full count, he took ball four.

A wild pitch from Mike Wasilik brought home another Loper and then Grace delivered a two-run single to left. Finally, senior SS Brandon Buchanan (Ft. Collins, Colo.) hit an RBI single up the middle.

Senior Jake Kresse (Bennington H.S.) earned the win in relief by retiring the side in order in the eighth and ninth innings. Senior Ricky Muir (Easton, Conn.) threw scoreless sixth and seventh innings and “started” the game after the second rain delay.

RMAC Pitcher of the Year Todd Stachura, in very rainy conditions this morning, allowed three earned runs on six hits and two walks in five innings.  UNK is now 13-1 when Stachura (Scotia) starts a game in 2011.