Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney baseball team pounded out 19 hits and scored four times in the bottom of the eighth inning to get past Southwest Baptist, 14-11, in the second game of a double header Friday evening in Bolivar, Mo.

The regionally-ranked Bearcats (30-16, 20-13) took the opener, 8-4, to set a new program record for wins in a season. This series was flipped from UNK to SBU due to weather and also moved up a day. The Lopers (14-32, 7-26) served as the "home" team in each contest.

The series finale featured 25 runs on 39 hits, seven walks, one hit batter and a key balk. With the bases loaded and two down in the bottom of the eighth, SBU freshman reliever Dalton Morrow (0-2) balked home the winning run. Two bloop singles followed to add two more insurance runs for UNK.

"I'm on cloud right now. It took a lot for us to get down here (arrived 5:00 a.m. Thursday) and to answer back the way we did today was special," said UNK head coach Damon Day. "Our guys are still fighting in game 46 in a season that hasn't gone our way. We have a lot of respect for SBU and to beat a regionally ranked opponent was big for our team."

The 19 hits, including five doubles, were the second most by the Lopers this season. All nine starters had a hit with three collecting three apiece. They were senior catcher Kirk McLeod (Detroit Lakes, Minn.), senior third baseman Brent Kirsch (Papillion-LaVista South H.S.) and junior designated hitter Josh Estrada (Houston). Estrada also had a hit in game one, pushing hit streak to 14 in a row.

Kearney trailed 4-0 after 2.5 innings but scored three in third and then added two more in fifth and four in the sixth. After a single ruin the seventh, UNK secured the win with that big eighth inning.

McLeod finished with a team-best four RBI's as he had a bases clearing double in the sixth. Sophomore left fielder Pate Katechis (Longmont, Colo.), the cleanup hitter, went 2 for 5 with three RBI's while senior center fielder Easton Edmond (Lincoln S.W.) finished 2 for 4 with two runs and two RBI's from the nine hole. He finished the scoring with a two-run single to left.

Finally, Iowa senior reliever Weston Glienke (4-2) picked up the win by throwing 1.2 innings of scoreless ball. SBU recorded 20 hits with eight starters having multi-hit efforts, including catcher Hunter Hisky (3 for 6, two runs & three RBI's).

In the early game, true freshman southpaw Andrew Meier (5-1) allowed five hits and walked three over seven full innings to pick up the win. Throwing 101 pitches, he also struck out five Lopers.

SBU erased a 1-0 deficit by scoring twice in the top of the sixth and then tacked on three runs in each of the next two innings. The first six 'Cats in the lineup finished with two hits, including Hisky (2 for 5, one run & two RBI's) and right fielder Jovany Urbieta (2 for 5, three RBI's).

UNK saw Katechis go 2 for 5 with Edmond and junior catcher Dallas Schramm (Millard North H.S.) both hitting home runs. This gives Schramm 13 for the year, tied for eighth most in UNK history, and Edmond eight.

The Lopers finish up the season next weekend at Central Oklahoma.