The senior from Golden, Colo., broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth with an RBI single to center off reliever Brian Bull to score Jeff Leise (Omaha, Neb.) with the go-ahead run, as Nebraska scored eight unanswered runs to erase a 2-1 deficit. Hopper, who leads the Huskers with 50 RBIs and a .383 average, highlighted a three-run eighth with a two-run single en route to his team-best 20th multi-hit game of the season.

Leise matched a career high with four hits and scored three times, while Daniel Bruce (Omaha, Neb.) was hit by three pitches and scored twice, as the Huskers improved to 20-1 at Hawks Field this spring.

Leise, who is 11 for 20 in the last four games, continued to feast upon on Golden Gopher pitching, going 8-for-11 with seven runs scored in two games against Minnesota, which fell to 27-15 with the loss. The win was NU�s fifth in the last six meetings with Minnesota dating back to the 2000 NCAA Regional.

Trailing 2-1, Bruce, who has now been hit 36 times in his career to become NU�s leader in that category, was hit by Minnesota starter Craig Molldrem to open the fifth before Bull was brought into to face Leise, who promptly belted a 1-2 offering into the gap to score Bruce with the tying run. Two batters later, Hopper gave NU the lead for good with a RBI single to center.

Zach Kroenke (4-2) picked up the win with four innings of sterling relief, allowing one hit and striking out two for his first win since April 5, while Bull (2-2) suffered the loss, allowing four runs in 2.2 innings of work.

"I was very proud of the way that he came out and pitched tonight," Associate Head Coach Rob Childress said of the freshman left-hander from Omaha. "Minnesota came into the game hitting .330 as a team, and we knew that they were dominating with left-handed hitters. I think it's a big boost for our pitching staff and for his confidence. We are going to need him down the stretch, no matter if it is as a starter or out of the bullpen."

The Huskers, who finished with 14 hits off four Minnesota pitchers, continued to pound on the Golden Gopher bullpen, extending the lead to 4-2 in the sixth on Bubbs Merrill�s safety squeeze that scored Drew Anderson (Kearney, Neb.) before NU added two more runs in the seventh on Alex Gordon�s RBI single and a sacrifice fly by Curtis Ledbetter (Lawrence, Kan), who saw his hit streak end at 23 games. The Huskers tacked on three runs in the eighth on an RBI single by Joe Simokaitis (St. Louis, Mo.) and Hopper�s two-run single.

The Huskers continue the homestand this weekend, as they host Louisiana-Lafayette for a three-game series beginning Friday night with the first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.