DECATUR, Ill. - The Coe College baseball team picked up a split at Millikin on Saturday afternoon in the opening games of the three-game series, dropping the opener 7-1 before an 8-5 victory in game two. Millikin racked up 10 hits in the opener and scored in four-straight innings, putting one on the board in the third, fourth and sixth inning while pushing three across in the fifth. Coe recorded eight hits in the loss and got a solo homer from
Jake Brosius but eight runners left on base cost the Kohawks as they dropped the opener. Coe nearly doubled its hit total in game two, tallying eight runs on 14 hits en route the victory. The visitors scored four runs in the third and three in the fourth to erase an early Millikin lead. The hosts fought back later in the game with runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh but Coe turned to
CJ Johnson who recorded the final six hitters in order to lock up the win. Brosius was one of five Kohawk to have multiple hits across the doubleheader, being joined by
Jack Allison, Creighton Kreshel, Tyce Johnson and
Mitchell Eckardt.
GAME ONE
MILLIKIN 7 - COE 1
Game Facts
- Coe had the first chance of the contest, getting two runners on in the second thanks to a pair of singles from Ryan Thoreson and Kreshel but a fly out ended the scoring opportunity. The Big Blue struck just an inning later, taking a one-run lead with an RBI groundout. Millikin doubled its lead with a two-out double in the fourth and then added three more in the fifth, using a pair of hits and one Coe error to grab the comfortable lead. Brosius answered in the top of the sixth for the Kohawks, delivering his first homer of the season to right. Millikin added insurance runs later in the contest, scoring once in the sixth and once in the eighth to ensure the victory.
GAME TWO
COE 8 - MILLIKIN 5
Game Facts
- Coe got two hits in the opening inning of game two but a play at the plate eliminated a chance to strike first. Millikin took advantage of the strong defensive play and hopped on top in the home half of the inning, getting a two-out double to go up 1-0. The Kohawks flipped the score in the third, taking advantage of three hits and three errors as Coe scored four runs to grab the lead. Johnson and James VanHooser led off with back-to-back singles. Eckardt then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over but a throwing error allowed him to reach and Johnson to score the tying run. Brosius made it 2-1 two batters later, singling up the middle to drive home VanHooser. The Kohawks would add two more runs before the end of the inning, capitalizing on two Millikin errors. Allison picked up the first RBI, driving home Jon Wille before Kreshel made it 4-1. Coe would pile on three more runs in the top of the fourth, this time recording five hits along the way. Kevin Lamb and Johnson singled to start the frame before Eckardt made it 5-1 with an RBI double. Brosius continued his standout day later in the inning, recording a two-run single to push Eckardt and Johnson home. Millikin closed the gap in the fifth and sixth innings, scoring three times to pull within three of Coe's lead. Freshman hurlers Jack Walsh and CJ Johnson then combined for three scoreless innings in the seventh, eighth and ninth. Johnson recorded the final six hitters in order, registering a trio of strikeouts in the eighth and one in the ninth.
Up next: The three-game series concludes tomorrow, Sunday, March 3 at 12 PM in Decatur.
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