Hibbing faced a tall order in facing unbeaten St. Cloud Tech and 6-11 left-handed ace Trevor Koenig, but it didn't faze the Bluejackets.

Hibbing's bottom three hitters combined for six hits, six runs and five RBI in a 9-4 upset over the Tigers in the Class 3A quarterfinals Thursday at Siebert field. Koenig, who entered the game 10-0 with a 0.97 ERA, didn’t make it past the first batter of the fourth inning.

“This was a big win for us, and the program,” Hibbing coach Jay Wetzel said. The Bluejackets are making their first state tournament appearance since 1991. “There was no pressure on us, no expectations.”

The bottom three in the Bluejackets’ lineup, Dylan Mattson, Andrew Mickelson and Will Durie, all went 2-for-3. Mickelson and Durie each had two RBI while Mattson scored three times and Mickelson twice.

“They kept it simple,” said Wetzel, whose squad never trailed. Hibbing (18-8) broke a two-all tie with three runs in the third, two scoring on Mickelson’s double and the other on Durie’s single. “They dropped the barrel of the bat on the ball, and good things happened.”

Hibbing (18-8) grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the second on back-to-back RBI singles by Riley Versich and Travis Carruth.

St. Cloud Tech (24-1) tied the game in the bottom half of the frame. Nick Schmitt’s double bounced over the left fielder’s head, allowing Austin Nikolas to score from first base.Two outs later, Max Unze singled up the middle to score Schmitt.

Hibbing didn’t flinch, answering with three in the third. Andrew Mickelson, who hits eighth in the order, had a two-run double with two outs and Will Durie followed with a run-scoring single up the middle.

The Tigers got one back in the fourth on Schmitt’s second double, this one down the left-field line.

Once again, Hibbing came right back, scoring twice to take a 7-3 lead. No. 7 hitter Dylan Mattson’s double down the third-base line scored Anthony Kanipes, who also doubled. One out later, Durie drove in his second run with a single to left.

A Bluejackets error, their fourth of the game, allowed St. Cloud Tech to score in the bottom half of the inning.

Hibbing scored the final two runs in the seventh on Zack DeBoom’s infield single and an error.

“This has been a long time coming,” Wetzel said. “I’m really proud of the kids.”