DECATUR, Ill. - The Coe College baseball team opened its season with a 3-2 victory over St. Scholastica on Saturday afternoon. The Kohawks jumped in front of the Saints early in the contest, scoring a pair of runs in the top of the second inning thanks to an RBI from
Tyler Elliott as well as an error from the Saints. Scholastica got one back in the bottom of the inning, slicing the deficit in half after a single and a wild pitch from the Kohawks. Coe scored its final run of the game in the top of the third, getting an RBI single from
Reid Rausch who extended the advantage to 3-1. The opponents made things interesting late in the game, scoring one run in the seventh to draw within one of the Kohawk lead. The Saints again threatened in the bottom of the ninth, putting their first two runners on base but
Jack Allison hit his groove toward the end of the inning and retired three consecutive hitters to clinch the victory. With the win, Coe starts the season 1-0 while St. Scholastica drops to 0-5 overall.
COE 3 - ST. SCHOLASTICA 2
Game Facts
- Both pitchers were perfect in the opening inning, retiring all three hitters in order to move to the second scoreless. Coe got on the board first, pushing two across the plate in the top half of the second. Reid Rausch and Creighton Kreshel reached in back-to-back plate appearances for the Kohawks and quickly moved to second and third on a sacrifice bunt from Jack Allison. Tyler Elliott then secured Coe's first RBI of the year, driving home Rausch on a single through the left side. Kreshel and the Kohawks then took advantage of an error from the opponents to go ahead 2-0, as the returning all-conference performer scored on an individual mistake by the pitcher.
- St. Scholastica responded in the bottom of the second, capitalizing on a single and a wild pitch to slice the Kohawk lead in half. The early scoring continued in the top of the third as Coe regained a two-run advantage thanks to a two-out single from Rausch. Allison singled later in the inning with runners on first and second and gave the Kohawks a chance at making it 4-1 but a solid relay throw from center retired Rausch trying to score from second.
- The game went quiet in the fourth and the fifth innings as the teams combined for just one hit during the stretch. Coe threatened again in the top of the sixth, putting more pressure on the Saints' defense which again rose to the occasion, throwing out Kreshel who was attempting to score on a single from Joey Sartain. The opposition closed the gap to just one run in the bottom of the seventh, producing an RBI groundout to make the score 3-2. Scholastica had a chance to tie the game in the next at-bat but a key strikeout kept Coe's lead intact.
- Coe got a leadoff single from Tyce Johnson in the eighth but the next two hitters were quickly sent back to the dugout. Allison then singled again with two outs to put two on but a flyout ended the inning and any insurance hopes for the Kohawks. Scholastica was retired in order in the bottom of the eighth, giving Coe one final chance to pad its lead but an inning-ending groundout got the Saints out of trouble. St. Scholastica had a great chance to tie or win the game in the bottom of the ninth, putting its first two runners on base but Allison, who entered at the start of the inning, buckled down and recorded three-straight outs to secure the win.
Up next: Coe returns to the diamond tomorrow, playing two more non-conference games against UW-Stevens Point at 1:30 PM and Millikin at 4:30 PM.
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