CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Coe College baseball team earned a victory in three straight must-win games on Friday afternoon to advance to the A-R-C Championship series, defeating Dubuque 4-1 in the team's first game before taking two from Buena Vista, 4-3 and 17-2. The Kohawks got a stellar starting performance from Matthew Mittelmark in the opener as the junior righty went eight innings and surrendered just one run while earning his seventh win of the season. Coe then took on Buena Vista in a must-win game which would force a winner-take-all if the Kohawks managed the feat. BVU got out infront early in the game but an RBI single from Jordan Kaplan in the bottom of the ninth inning forced the extra game. Coe's bats exploded in the pod championship, scoring a season-high 17 runs on 17 hits. TJ Johnson, who was five-of-five from the plate with nine RBIs, smashed three home runs in the game while setting a new single-season record for RBIs. The Kohawks, who advance to the American Rivers Conference Championship Game, improve to 36-6 overall while Buena Vista drops to 21-23. 
 
GAME 1 
COE 4 - DUBUQUE 1 
Mittelmark opened well despite surrendering a single as the junior worked around a one-out single to keep UD scoreless in the first. Coe and UD then traded scoreless at-bats but the Kohawks managed to strike first in the home half of the second inning. TJ Deardorff led off with a double to left-center and advanced to third on a one-out single from Luke Smailes. Tyler Elliott then opened the scoring in the game with an RBI single through the left side which allowed Deardorff to score while Smailes moved to third. James VanHooser then produced a productive out to make it 2-0, grounding out to first base which allowed Smailes to cross the plate. 
 
Both starting pitchers took control of the game beginning in the top of the third as the pair combined for three-straight scoreless innings during which only two hits were recorded. The Kohawks restarted the scoring in the bottom of the sixth inning, getting two important insurance runs to stretch their lead to four. Kaplan started the rally with a one-out single through the left side and moved to second on a bunt single from Deardorff. Jacob Henry came through in Coe's next at-bat, slashing a two-run double to left-center which allowed Deardorff and Kaplan to score easily. Dubuque got a lead-off single in the top of the seventh inning to put pressure on Mittelmark but the righty worked around the damage, getting three straight outs to record the shutdown inning. Mittelmark, who left the game in the top of the ninth inning was replaced by Kaplan, who came in and recorded a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts. 
 
GAME 2
COE 4 - BVU 3  
Game two starter, Tyce Johnson saw the leadoff runner reach in the top of the first but he got three-straight outs to open the game. The Kohawks then put runners on the corners in the bottom of the frame but BV managed to work out of the jam and keep it scoreless. After neither team struck in the second, the Beavers got on the board in the third, thanks to an RBI double. The Kohawks immediately responded as lead-off man Isaac Evans doubled and was brought home by Riley LeGrand. Coe continued to threaten in the inning with runners on second and third but a groundout kept it tied at one heading to the fourth. After a scoreless fourth, the Beavers retook the lead on an RBI single with one out. Again, Coe answered back in the bottom of the inning as TJ Johnson delivered a solo homer to tie the game at one. Buena Vista continued the back and forth action in the top of the sixth, getting a solo shot to retake the lead at 3-2 but Coe managed to tie it on an RBI single from Henry in the seventh. 
 
Austin Divello, who came in to work a scoreless top of the seventh, remained in for the eighth and got clutch double-play to give Coe a chance in the home half. After a 1-2-3 inning for the Kohawks, Buena Vista's first two batters were struck out by Divello. The next two Beavers then reached on back-to-back singles, putting runners on the corners which forced Coach Cook to go to his bullpen. Senior lefty Jack Greene, who had not made an appearance since March due to injury, came in and recorded the final out of the ninth, getting a strikeout to strand the runners. LeGrand led the bottom of the ninth off with a double to left-center, splitting the gap before TJ Johnson reached on an attempted sacrifice bunt which he beat out for a hit. Kaplan, Coe's next hitter, managed to hit a ball up the middle as it snuck past the Beaver infield to earn the walk-off win for the Kohawks. 
 
GAME 3
COE 17 - BVU 2  
Greene got the nod in game two against the Beavers and despite giving up a solo homer he struck out two and settled in. His offense gave him immediate support in the bottom as the first three batters reached with TJ Johnson driving home two on an RBI double to right-center. Deardorff made it 3-1 two batters later with an RBI single to left, scoring TJ Johnson on the play. Coe's hurler had a solid shutdown inning in the second, getting the first two Beavers with a strikeout and a groundout before leaving a runner on with an inning-ending strikeout. Both teams went scoreless in the bottom of the second and the top of the third but Coe added two in the home half of the third. TJ Johnson led off with his second homer of the day and first of game two before Tyler Elliott singled home Deardorff. The Kohawks got two more in the bottom of the fourth inning as TJ Johnson picked up another RBI, with a double that scored LeGrand. Kaplan joined the party with a run-scoring single that allowed TJ Johnson to cross the plate, pushing Coe's lead to 7-1. 
 
Coe broke things open in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring 10 runs on seven hits. Eight-straight hitters reached safely to start the inning for Coe, during which TJ Johnson crushed a three-run homer to left-field. A passed ball made it 11-1 as Kaplan scored before Elliott and Tyce Johnson both had RBI singles to make it 13-1. Following a double-play which saw Coe's lead move to 14-1, LeGrand pushed it to 15-1 with a single up the middle. TJ Johnson then bashed his third homer of the game and fourth of the day while recording his ninth RBI of the game to end the scoring for the Kohawks. Greene, who finished the game with a Coe season-high 11 strikeouts came back in for the top of the seventh and earned his second win of the day. 
 
Up next: Coe will take on the winner of the pod two championship game between the two seed Luther and the third seed Loras which is scheduled for noon. 
 
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