Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Kearney, Neb. – Sophomore Joe Smidt threw 2.2 innings of scoreless relief and Nebraska-Kearney scored two runs in the fourth and fifth innings to rally past Missouri Western State, 4-3, in the second game of a double header Saturday at Memorial Field.
 
Western (15-12, 11-9) scored two runs in four different innings to win the first game, 9-6.
 
UNK (18-12, 12-11) didn't have a hit over the first three innings of the nightcap. However, junior center fielder Brandon Landanger (Kearney H.S.) started the fourth with an infield single and then freshman shortstop Josh Kiger (Papillion-LaVista South H.S.) walked.
 
A wild pitch moved the pair up 90 feet with singles by sophomore right fielder Anthony Pacheco (2 for 3, two RBI's) and junior catcher Danny Droll (Penrose, Colo.) making it a one-run game. 
 
The Loper fifth featured a leadoff single by sophomore left fielder Drew Butler (Kearney Catholic H.S.) and a bunt single by freshman third baseman Brent Kirsch (Papillion-LaVista South H.S.). Kiger hit a bloop double to right to tie things up and then Pacheco finished the scoring with an RBI single to right center.
 
Smidt (North Platte) fanned two, gave up one hit and didn't walk a Griffon to earn his first win of 2014. Finally, senior starter Logan Willard (Eagle Grove, Ia.) gave up two earned in 4.1 innings.
 
A wild first game saw both starting pitchers not survive the first. Wyoming senior Dalton Cowen (4-2, 2.72) left due to injury after 2/3 of an inning while Western's Tyler Tuepker lasted just 1/3 of an inning after a three-run homer by Grand Island junior catcher Max Ayoub.
 
Down 4-2, Western tied things up in the second and then scored another run in the third to knot things up at five. Pacheco (2 for 3, two RBI's & two runs) led off the fifth with a solo homer, his second of the year, to right but the lead was short lived.
 
Western's sixth featured a two-out, RBI bunt single by nine hole hitter Cody Childs (2 for 3, two RBI's) that also included a UNK throwing error, allowing the lead run to score all the way from first.
 
A two-run homer by catcher Jake Schrader (3 for 4, three RBI's & two runs) then gave the Griffs two insurance runs in the seventh. Mason Queens allowed one earned in 4.2 innings of relief to improve to 2-3 with Landanger (3 for 4), Kiger (2 for 4) and Colorado senior Jayke Brock (2 for 4) pacing the Kearney offense.
 
The series finishes up tomorrow with a single game starting at noon.