Nebraska-Kearney rallied for two runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and beat No. 11 Fort Hays State 14-13 in game two to gain a split in their doubleheader at Dryden Park in Kearney Wednesday afternoon. The Tigers took the opener 6-1 and are now 39-9 overall and 19-5 in the MIAA. The Lopers are 11-29 and 6-18 in the conference. The Tigers close out the regular season with a home doubleheader against Lincoln Friday at 4pm.

Game 1: No. 11 Fort Hays State 6, Nebraska-Kearney 1
Maddie Holub improved to 23-1 in the circle, striking out 11 and going 4-for-4 at the plate.

Fort Hays State blew open a 1-1 game, scoring three in the fourth and two in fifth. Paxton Duran hit a solo homer in the fourth and Jenna Lang added a two-run shot in the fifth.

Game 2: Nebraska-Kearney 14, No. 11 Fort Hays State 13
The game had 27 runs on 30 hits. The Lopers scores six in the first and had leds of 6-0, 7-3 and 10-6. The Tigers rallied with four in the top of the sixth to take a 12-10 lead. The Lopers answered with two in the bottom of the inning to tie, but the Tigers came back to take the lead on a Courtney Dobson’s single in the top of the seventh.

Kearney put together a two-out rally for the comeback win, stringing together three straight singles. Freshman Kaitlin Hehnke tied the game with a base hit that got away from center fielder Amanda Vaupel which allowed the game-winning run to score.

Starter Paxton Duran recorded just one out, allowing six runs on five hits. Maddie Holub allowed four runs on four hits over 2 2/3 innings of relief, striking out seven and walking one. Katlyn Kern takes the loss after allowing the final four runs (three earned) on five hit in 3 2/3 innings.

Tori Beltz led Fort Hays State’s 16-hit attack going 3-for-4 with two home runs and six RBI and three runs scored. Danie Brinkmann also had three hits and Amanda Vaupel homered and drove in three.