LA CROSSE, Wisc. - The Coe College baseball team opened the 2024 NCAA Regional Championships with a dramatic victory on Friday afternoon, defeating Benedictine University 12-9 in 10 innings. Coe and Benedictine traded blows throughout the matchup, combining to score in seven different innings. The Kohawks led early but five runs for the Eagles in the fourth switched the momentum. Coe hung tough and battled back to tie the game in the seventh and then took the lead on a three-run homer from
Jake Brosius. Benedictine stayed alive in the bottom of the ninth, tying the game with its own three-run homer to make it 9-9. The Kohawks jumped back in front immediately in extras, scoring three times to regain the lead.
Ryan Thoreson brought home the opening run with a bases-loaded walk before
Jack Allison gave Coe insurance with a two-run single.
Ethan O'Donnell, who settled things down in the ninth after the big blow, returned for the 10th and sealed the deal with a scoreless frame.
COE 12 - BENEDICTINE 9
Game Facts
- Benedictine got things started in the home half of the first, getting the opening run on an RBI single. The Kohawks quickly answered, scoring a pair of runs in the top of the second to grab a 2-1 lead. Allison doubled with one out and was joined on base by Reid Rausch who singled to make it first and third. Creighton Kreshel delivered Coe's opening run with a double down the left-field line before Austin Gomez made it 2-1 with a productive groundout. The Kohawks extended the lead to three with one swing of the bat in the fourth as Rausch blasted a solo homer to left center. Benedictine exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fourth, taking the lead with a three-run homer before adding two more on singles. The Kohawks began to chip away in the sixth, getting another RBI double from Kreshel to make it 6-4. Tyce Johnson and Thoreson leveled the game an inning later, picking up RBI singles in back-to-back at bats. Brosius completed the momentum shift in the eighth, belting a three-run homer to make it 9-6. The Eagles fought back in the ninth, getting two leadoff runners on before a pinch-hit game-tying homer. Coe fought back in its first opportunity, loading the bases with no outs in the 10th. Thoreson made it 10-9 later in the inning with a two-out walk and was immediately followed by Allison, who pushed the lead to 12-9. O'Donnell returned to the hill for the 10th after getting all three outs in the ninth. The junior worked around a one-out walk and locked down the tournament-opening victory.
Up Next: Coe is back in action tomorrow, Saturday, May 18, taking on UW-La Crosse at 2:30 PM for the right to advance to Sunday's championship game.
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