Coe College (Iowa) 5, Ripon College (Wis.) 4La Crosse, Wis. - Coe College (Iowa) remained undefeated at the NCAA Division III Baseball Midwest Regional held at Copeland Park with a 5-4 victory over Ripon College (Wis.) Thursday night. The Kohawks improve to 33-12 on the season and advance to play Friday, May 15 at 4:30 p.m. against the winner of Thursday's final contest between UW-La Crosse and Washington University (Mo.). Ripon (Wis.) falls to 1-1 in the regional and 24-15 overall and will face Concordia University-Chicago (Ill.) Friday, May 15 at 10 a.m. in an elimination game.
Senior shortstop Michael Polcyn put Ripon (Wis.) on the scoreboard in the top of the first, hammering a solo home run to right center to put the Red Hawks up 1-0.
Coe (Iowa) scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead. AJ Reuter homered to left to tie the game at 1-1. Jack Hoffmann reached on a throwing error and advanced to second on a Jory Heckenberg single to left. Grant Henning sacrificed the runners to second and third and Hoffmann scored on a sacrifice fly to left from Michael Redmond to make it 2-1.
Nick Uhen doubled down the left field line for Ripon (Wis.) in the top of the fifth and was driven in by a Dakotah Kirchenwitz single to tie the game at 2-2.
Coe (Iowa) regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Craig Konrardy singled, stole second and advancd to third on a throwing error by the catcher. He scored on a Michael Goerdt fly ball which was dropped by Ripon's (Wis.) left fielder to make it 3-2 .
Polcyn homered for the second time in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 3-3.
Heckenberg connected for his first home run of the season in the bottom of the sixth to give Coe (Iowa) a 4-3 lead. The Kohawks added to their lead in the bottom of the seventh as Cole Tomlinson scored on a Goerdt single up the middle to make it 5-3.
In the top of the eighth, Hoffmann relieved Coe (Iowa) starter Reuter, and the first batter he faced was Polcyn, who homered for the third time in the game for Ripon (Wis.), pulling the Red Hawks to within 5-4. Hoffmann rebounded and recorded the final six outs to secure the victory for Coe (Iowa).
Ripon (Wis.) got a runner on base in the top of the ninth, but failed to score as the game ended with Polcyn on deck.
Reuter (7-1) earned the win for Coe (Iowa), going 7.0 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out one. He also hit a home run. Hoffman picked up his fourth save of the season, pitching 2.0 innings, allowing two hits, one run and one walk while striking out three. Heckenberg finished 2-for-4 with home run while Konrardy went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base.
Marshall Zahn (5-3) suffered the loss for Ripon (Wis.), pitching 6.1 innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on seven hits with one strikeout. Polcyn went 3-for-4 with three solo home runs. He also had a home run in Wednesday's win over UW-Whitewater and now has 12 home runs in his last 13 games.
