La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team defeated Coe College (Iowa) 9-7 in game two of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) III Regional Championship Sunday afternoon at Copeland Park. UWL advances to NCAA III Super Regional for second consecutive season. 

THE BASICS

• Result: UW-La Crosse 9, Coe College (Iowa) 7
• Location: Copeland Park, La Crosse, Wis. 
• Records: UW-La Crosse 35-14, Coe College (Iowa) 31-16
• National Ranking: UW-La Crosse is ranked on this weeks D3baseball.com Top-25 polls. 
• Up Next:  The Eagles will now face a familiar opponent as they will travel to Whitewater to play the Warhawks of UW-Whitewater in the NCAA III Super Regional Friday May 24 and Saturday May 25. The super regional will be a best of three series with the winner advancing to the NCAA III College World Series.  

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Coe College took a 2-0 lead in in the top of the first inning as Mitchell Eckardt led off with a single and stole second base. Then with one out, Jake Brosius singled to move Eckardt to third. Brosius then stole second base and after a fly out, Ryan Thoreson singled to score both Eckardt and Brosius. 
• In the bottom half of the first inning, Chris VandenHeuvel reached on a throwing error with one out. VandenHeuvel would steal second base followed by a two-out single up the middle by George Seaman which scored VandenHeuvel. Anthony Vivian then hit his fifth home run of the NCAA Regional to give UWL a 3-2 lead. 
• Coe would threaten in the top of the fourth inning as they loaded the bases with two outs; however, Eagles starting pitcher Isaiah Katz would record a strikeout to get out of the jam. 
• UWL would get a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning from Witte to extend their lead to 4-2. It was Witte's seventh home run of the season.

 

• In the bottom of the seventh with one out, Witte singles and advances to third on VandenHeuvel's double. Born then singled to right field to score Witte. Seaman then hit his 18th home run of the season to score VandenHeuvel and Born and give UWL an 8-2 lead.
• Coe would make it interesting in the top of the eighth inning as they scored five runs on one hit, three walks and three hit batsman. Katz would retire the first batter of the inning for UWL but then hit Tyce Johnson and gave up an RBI double to Thoreson. Pinch Hitter Austin Gomez was hit by a pitch and Mitchel Fassbender came on in relief. Fassbender would hit Reid Rausch, walk Creighton Kreshel and Daniel Hawes to force in two runs. After another walk forced in a run to make it 8-5, Tucker Bouche came on in relief walked in a run. Tyler Schmitt was then brought in from the bullpen and got a strikeout before hitting a batter. Schmitt then got a ground out to end the inning but Coe had cut their deficit to 8-7. 
• The Eagles would add an insurance run in their half of the inning Jack Olver led off with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by TIm Urlaub. Jack Moran then doubled to score Olver and put UWL up 9-7. 
• In the top of the ninth inning, Schmitt recorded a strikeout and a ground out to start the inning. Kevin Lamb then singled for the Kohawks and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Schmitt would then get a fly out to center field and the celebration was on for the Eagles. 

FROM THE BOX SCORE

• Offensively, UWL finished with nine runs on 12 hits and one walk. . 
• Witte led the Eagles offense going 3-for-4 with a home run, an RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base.
• Seaman finished 2-for-4 with a home run, four RBIs and two runs scored while Born was 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
• After pitching 2.1 innings yesterday, Katz (7-5) goes 7.1 innings and allows five runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out six to earn the win. Tyler Schmitt (1) pitched the final 1.2 innings to pick up the save after starting game one of the NCAA III Regional on Friday. 
• Coe finished with seven runs on eight hits and five walks.
• Drew Osterman (0-1) suffered the loss for the Kohawks as he allowed four runs (one earned) on five hits and one walk while striking out three.
• Thoreson led Coe offensively going 2-for-5 with three RBI and one run score while Eckardt was 1-for-2 with two walks, one RBI and one run scored.