BELOIT, Wis. – Despite rain, wind and impending darkness the Ripon Red Hawks earned their second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament with a thrilling 11-9 win over Beloit in the second championship game of the 2011 Midwest Conference Baseball Tournament.

Ripon used a six run fourth inning and staved off a valiant comeback by Beloit in the top of the ninth inning to advance with a chance to play for the NCAA National Championship.

Ripon struck first in the bottom of the first inning when John Henrickson singled and Kyle Bosquez doubled in the first two at bats. Nick Beaman then laced a ball down the right field line to score the two runs and give the home team the early advantage.

The advantage didn’t last for long as Beloit tied the game in the top of the second with two runs and then took a commanding lead with a five run top of the fourth inning. Evan Mascitti singled home two runs before Mike Kovach and Jordan Jaenicke pushed home runs for Beloit.

Ripon saved their biggest offensive inning for the bottom half of the fourth inning. Bosquez and Beaman each had multiple RBI hits to spark the six run inning where they collected four hits and were aided by a Beloit error.

Ripon added on in the fifth inning with a pair of runs on a Henrickson double to score Zach Bayreuther and Aaron Kastner. Ripon ended its scoring spree in the eighth inning with a lone run. The run in the eighth marked the ninth straight run the Red Hawks scored after falling behind 7-2.

The Bucs had one last chance in the top of the ninth. After pushing across a run via a bases loaded walk they had the tying run on first base with only one out. After a strikeout Jon Siil singled home another run to cut the lead to two and put the tying run in scoring position. Mascitti came up and laced at ball to Ripon shortstop Bareuther who couldn’t cleanly field it but the carom went right to second baseman Bosquez who touched second to spark the celebration on the pitcher’s mound.

Kurt Roeder picked up the win for Ripon going 4.2 innings in relief, giving up three runs and four hits. Jason Wierschke picked up his first save of the season after inheriting the bases loaded jam in the top of the ninth.

Henrickson picked up three hits in four at bats for the Red Hawks and also collected three RBI. Beaman had two hits and also drove home four runs while Bosquez also had two hits and two RBI’s in the win.

Aaron Bushur took the loss for Beloit pitching only a third of an inning and yielding six runs, only five earned. Siil was the only Buc with multiple hits as he had two hits and two RBI’s.

With the win the Red Hawks claim the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament next week. The opponent and location of Ripon’s regional games are yet to be determined.