Kearney, Neb. - The Nebraska-Kearney baseball team is in the NCAA Division II Tournament for the third time and will play Minnesota State Thursday afternoon in Farmington, N.M.

The field for the 48-team tournament – top six teams in eight regions -- was announced tonight by the NCAA. Regional play begins this Thursday through Sunday (May 13-17) with eight winners advancing to the Division II World Series in Cary, N.C. (May 22-29).

Receiving an at-large bid for the first time in school history, UNK (36-18) is the fifth seed in the Central Region and will play second-seed Minnesota State (40-13) Thursday at 12:00 p.m. (Central) in Ricketts Park.

New Mexico Highlands (38-11), RMAC regular season and RMAC Tournament champions, is the top-seed in the regional and the host of the tournament. Because of several reasons, the tournament will be played in Farmington, located about 270 miles from the Highlands campus in Las Vegas.

A town located in the “Four Corners Region,” Farmington annually hosts the Connie Mack World Series at Ricketts.

The 19th-ranked Mavericks (40-13) won the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season title this year and then bounced back from a second round loss this weekend to win the NSIC Tournament.

MSU is led by NSIC Pitcher of the Year Blake Schwartz, a sophomore right hander who is 10-2 with a 3.40 ERA. Three other Mavericks starting hurlers have won at least six games and each have an ERA under 4.50.

The regional bracket for the first day is below; visit www.ncaasports.com for the complete national field and www.nmhucowboys.com for more information on the Central Regional.

In 2007 and again in 2008, UNK made the NCAA's by winning the RMAC Tournament. In both years, the Lopers went 1-2, beating No. 1 ranked Sonoma (Calif.) State in 2007 and 24th-ranked Western Oregon the following year.

Thursday, May 13th - All Times Central
12:00 p.m. Game # 2 (2nd-seed Minnesota State Vs. 5th-seed UNK)

4:00 p.m. Game # 3 (3rd-seed Mesa State Vs. 4th-seed Winona State, Minn.)

8:00 p.m. Game # 1 (1st-seed N.M. Highlands Vs. 6th-seed St. Cloud State, Minn.)

Friday, May 14th
12:00 p.m.  Game # 4 (Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2)

4:00 p.m.  Game # 5 (Winner Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3)

8:00 p.m. Game # 6 (Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3)