Box Score Kearney, Neb. – The 9th-ranked Colorado Mesa baseball team scored three runs in the seventh inning and added two more in the eighth to rally past Nebraska-Kearney, 11-7, Monday afternoon in Grand Junction.

The finale of a three-game series produced some offense as the teams combined for 26 hits and 10 walks. UNK ended up sending five pitchers to the mound with Mesa using six. Like the first two games of the series, both teams left plenty of runners on base, Kearney with 11 and Mesa stranding nine.
 
The Lopers used the long ball to grab early leads of 5-3, 6-5 and 7-5. Redshirt freshman leftfielder Pate Katechis (Longmont, Colo.) hit a two-run shot in the second, sophomore designated hitter Josh Estrada (Houston, Texas) did the same in the third with senior shortstop Shane Sharkey (McKinney, Texas) hitting a solo shot in the sixth.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, the Mavericks used two Loper errors, a walk, passed ball and two hits to score three times to take the lead for good. One of the hits was a bunt single.
 
Mesa tacked on two more runs in its half of the eighth on another UNK miscue and three singles. The CMU bullpen kept Kearney at bay as it allowed one run over the last five innings, allowing four hits and four walks while fanning five.
 
At the plate for Mesa, senior center fielder James Young III went 4 for 5 with a run and three RBI's.
 
For UNK, Estrada went 3 for 5 with two runs and two RBI's from the fifth spot in the order with Sharkey going 3 for 5 with two runs from his leadoff position. On the mound, Grand Island senior Chayse Gulzow threw a scoreless sixth.
 
With the season-opening series at Metro State weathered out, UNK has picked up a game, playing at Colorado State-Pueblo Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. Central.