WATERLOO - Cale Henke pitched effectively into the eighth inning and Randy Perez provided the relief Thursday as Kirkwood trimmed Ellsworth, 6-5, in the opening round of the NJCAA Region XI baseball tournament at Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo.

Kirkwood (30-17) will face DMACC in the winners bracket semifinals Friday at 4 p.m.

Henke (5-2) allowed three earned runs in 7.2 innings. Perez struck out three batters in the final 1.1 innings for his fourth save.

Eric Schenck-Joblinske went 3-for-4 for the Eagles. Zach Patterson, Nick Jones and Perez all had two hits. Shawn Hagarty drove in two runs.

Perez began the game at third base, then came into pitch.