UW-La Crosse 5, Coe College (Iowa) 4La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team defeated Coe College (Iowa) 5-4 at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championship Sunday afternoon at Copeland Park. The Eagles improve to 32-13 on the season and will play the Kohawks (34-13) in a second championship game scheduled to start at 3:40 p.m. The winner will advance to the NCAA Division III World Series next week in Appleton, Wisconsin.
UW-L starting pitcher
Joe Miller was perfect through three innings, but Coe (Iowa) got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. Craig Konrardy singled to open the inning, and advanced to third on a Michael Goerdt single. Goerdt stole second before AJ Reuter singled through the right side, scoring Konrardy to make it 1-0. Jack Hoffmann then singled to right, scoring Goerdt, and the Kohawks led 2-0.
The Eagles finally broke through in the top of seventh inning with a two-out rally.
Carter Hoffman pinch-hit for
Eric Vatch, and was hit on the head with a pitch from Coe (Iowa) starter Connor Alberhasky. Hoffman advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on
Alex Cordova's double to right center to cut UW-L's deficit to 2-1. After a pitching change by the Kohawks, Kohlwey singled to left driving in Cordova to tie the game at 2-2. A wild pitch advanced Kohlwey to third and he scored on an infield single by
Justin Anderson to give UW-L the lead at 3-2. After a
Ben Morgan single moved Anderson to third,
Bryce Barsness bounced a single over the head of the Coe (Iowa) first baseman to drive in Anderson and the Eagles extended the lead to 4-2.
Coe (Iowa) tied the game in the bottom of the eighth. Goerdt hit a single to right, followed by a double by Reuter to put runners on second and third with one out. Hoffmann hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Goerdt to make it 4-3 and moving Reuter to third. Eagles' reliever
Jameson Sadowske got Jory Heckerberg on a grounder to third, but a throwing error allowed him to reach, scoring Reuter from third to tie the game at 4-4.
In the top of the ninth, UW-L regained the lead. Kohlwey doubled down the right field line to open the frame and Morgan drove him in with single up the middle to make it 5-4.
Coe (Iowa) put a runner on in the bottom of the ninth with a two-out pinch-hit single from Dan Urban, but Sadowske got Reuter to fly out to center to end the game.
Sadowske (4-0) picked up the victory for UW-L, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits with four strikeouts, pitching the final 3.0 innings. Miller went 6.0 innings, giving up two runs on five hits, striking out three and walking one. Kohlwey was 3-for-5 with a double and RBI, scoring two runs. Anderson, Morgan, and Barsness each had two hits and an RBI for the Eagles.
Tony Becker (2-1) took the loss for Coe (Iowa). He gave up a run on two hits with walk and a strikeout in two innings. Alberhasky went 6.2 innings, giving up two runs on six hits, striking out four and walking one batter. Goerdt was 3-for-4 with a double and a stolen base, scoring two runs. Hoffmann drove in two for the Kohawks.
