WAVERLY, Iowa - The Coe College baseball team split a pair of games on Sunday at Wartburg, falling 17-16 in game one before salvaging a 4-2 victory in the second game of the day and third of the weekend series. The Kohawks and Knights exploded for 47 hits in the opening game, combining to score 33 runs as the hosts outlasted Coe 17-16 in 11 innings. Coe jumped ahead early in the game with five in the first but Wartburg quickly responded with an eight spot in the bottom of the first. The Kohawks regained the lead with six in the fourth inning but the Knights continuously chipped away at the visitor's lead and finally secured the win in the 11th on a defensive miscue from Coe. The Kohawks avoided the series sweep in the third and final game of the weekend, picking up a 4-2 decision against the Knights. Coe got two in the first and one in the second to grab an early lead for
Ethan O'Donnell who earned his third win of the year, allowing just two runs in seven innings of work. With the split, Coe moves to 11-7 and 3-3 in the A-R-C while Wartburg goes to 8-9 and 3-5 in league play.
GAME ONE
WARTBURG 17- COE 16 – 11 INNINGS
Game Facts
- The scoring started early in game one with Coe pushing five runs across in the opening frame. The Kohawks tallied five hits in the frame, getting RBI from Creighton Kreshel, Tyler Elliott and Jack Allison with the latter delivering a three-run homer to cap off the early jolt. Wartburg immediately responded in the bottom of the first, exploding for eight runs on six hits and one Kohawk error.
- The game then went quiet for the second and third as both teams wasted run-scoring chances. Coe regained its lead in the fourth, pushing six runs home on four hits. Elliott got his second RBI of the game on a walk before Allison delivered another big hit, this time a two-RBI single to knot the game at eight. Joey Sartain, James VanHooser and Mitchell Eckardt secured the final three RBI of the frame, registering a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly to give the Kohawks an 11-8 lead.
- Coe threw three more runs on the board in the fifth, extending the advantage on RBI hits from Kreshel, Elliott and Kevin Lamb. Wartburg began its charge in the bottom of the fifth, slicing the deficit back to four with a two-run single to make it 14-10. Elliott and Allison got both runs back for Coe in the following inning, picking up one RBI each to stretch the lead back to 16-10.
- The Knights brought themselves back into the game in the eighth, getting four runs on six hits to slice the deficit back to 16-14. The momentum continued for the hosts into the ninth, getting the game-tying runs on three hits and some wild pitching from Coe. The Kohawks had the first scoring chance in extras, putting a pair of runners on with two outs but Wartburg got out of the jam and set up what proved to be a dramatic bottom of the inning. The Knights had just one hit in the frame but took advantage of a hit batsman and a Kohawk error, scoring the game-winning run on the defensive miscue.
GAME TWO
COE 4 – WARTBURG 2
Game Facts
- Coe erased the memory of game one immediately in game two, scoring two runs in the opening frame to again grab the early lead. Jake Brosius started the scoring, singling home Eckardt after Coe's leadoff man singled early in the inning. Kreshel made it 2-0 in the next at-bat, producing a sacrifice fly to right to push Tyler Bayless home from third. The Kohawks quickly added to their advantage in the second, getting an RBI single from VanHooser who drove home Kaden Haller to make it 3-0.
- O'Donnell, who stranded two runners in the first, settled in during the next few innings, surrendering just one single in the second and third. Wartburg threatened again in the fourth, getting runners on the corners with two outs but O'Donnell buckled down and forced a fly out to center which ended the chance for the hosts.
- The Knights finally got on the board in the fifth, cutting Coe's lead to just two with a one-out sacrifice fly. The visitors quickly got the run back, answering with one in the sixth on a sacrifice fly from Elliott. Wartburg again refused to go quietly, cutting the deficit to two again with a two-out RBI single however, O'Donnell got another flyout to limit the damage. The Kohawk starter returned to the mound in the seventh looking for his third win of the year. Two Knights reached safely in the inning, getting a pair of one-out base runners on an error and a single. O'Donnell buckled down and salvaged the victory for Coe, retiring the final two hitters in order to lock down the 4-2 win.
Up next: Coe hosts its first-midweek doubleheader this Tuesday, April 4, welcoming Luther College to Daniels Park for a pair of A-R-C games.
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