ORLANDO, Fla. - The Coe College baseball team picked up a 9-3 victory over Wheaton (Mass.) on Saturday morning in the team's opening game of its spring break trip to Florida. The game was tied at two midway through the contest but Coe took control with a five-spot in the sixth inning and never looked back.
Jacob Brosius started the scoring in the inning with a solo homer and saw his teammates add insurance later in the frame.
Tyler Elliott and
Matthew Chapman turned in impressive efforts at the plate and on the mound for the Kohawks in the victory. Elliott, who entered the game with just one hit on the season, exploded with four knocks, three runs scored and a pair of RBIs to propel the Kohawk offense which finished with nine total hits. Chapman tossed five innings for Coe, surrendering just four hits and two earned runs while fanning seven hitters.
Michael Bonner took over in relief of Chapman in the sixth, pitching two scoreless innings en route to his first win of the season. With the win, Coe improves to 2-2 on the campaign while Wheaton drops to 2-2 overall.
COE 9 - WHEATON (MASS.) 3
Game Facts
- Wheaton put runners on immediately in the opening inning, getting a pair of two-out base runners after a throwing error and a walk. Chapman buckled down despite the traffic, producing a ground ball to first to escape unscathed. The Lyons opened the scoring the top of the second inning after retiring the Kohawks in order, pushing two runs across to grab the early lead. Coe came back with an answer in the bottom, slicing the deficit to a hit, walk and wild pitch which scored Creighton Kreshel.
- Both teams went quiet over the next few innings but the Kohawks knotted the score in the bottom of the fifth. Elliott led the inning off with a single and immediately moved to second on a throwing error by the Lyons. Kaden Haller then moved Elliott to third with a groundout before James VanHooser drove home Coe's start man with an RBI groundout.
- Bonner entered in the top of the sixth and produced a solid shutdown inning for the Kohawks, stranding a two-out single to send his team back to the plate. Coe's offense came to life moments later, scoring five runs on four hits in the bottom of the sixth inning. Brosius led off with a solo shot and was followed by a pair of singles by Tyce Johnson and Reid Rausch. Kreshel loaded the bases one batter later, reaching on a fielder's choice to put the pressure on. Jack Allison made it 4-2 in the next plate appearance, picking up his second RBI of the year with a sacrifice fly. Elliott broke the game open one batter later, increasing Coe's lead to 6-2 with a bases-clearing triple. Elliot scored from third two batters later, scampering home to make it 7-2 on a wild pitch.
- The Kohawks picked up a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, getting RBI from Mitchell Eckardt and Johnson who helped push the lead to seven. Wheaton refused to go away silently in the top of the ninth, putting pressure on the Kohawks with one out in the inning but Austin Divello came in for relief duty and struck out the final two hitters to secure the win.
Up next: The Kohawks continue their Florida trip tomorrow with a non-conference doubleheader against Marymount University at 2:30 PM CT.
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