The Royals had to blow a 3-0 lead to get the loss. Emil Brown singled in Terrence Long in the first inning to give Kansas City a 1-0 lead. In the fourth inning, catcher Paul Phillips singled in Brown and Mark Teahen to put the Royals up 3-0.

Minnesota cut into that lead in the fourth inning with RBI singles from Lew Ford and Justin Morneau. Jason Tyner tied the game in the fifth inning on a wild pitch from Royals’ starter Jose Lima.

The game remained locked at 3-3 until Minnesota rallied for three runs off relievers Andy Sisco and Chris Demaria. Sisco allowed Jacque Jones drive in a run with a triple and eventually left the game with two outs and two one. Demaria gave up a two run double to Michael Cuddyer, which gave Minnesota a three-run cushion heading into the bottom of the ninth, but they wouldn’t need it.

After Denny Hocking made it to second base on a throwing error, the Royals went down silently. Aaron Guiel struck out, Terrence Long lined out and Mike Sweeney struck out on a foul tip to end the game.

The seventh-ranked Missouri volleyball team continued its perfect season on Wednesday with a sweep (30-28, 30-25, 30-24) of Baylor in Waco.