LA CROSSE, Wisc. - The Coe College baseball team out-slugged UW-La Crosse for the right to advance to Championship Sunday earlier this afternoon, defeating the host Eagles 12-11 in walk-off fashion in a ten-inning home-run-filled matchup. The teams combined for 12 home runs on the day but the Kohawks did most of the damage, bashing out eight home runs including the game-tying and game-winning homers in the bottom of the tenth inning. The teams went back-and-forth with UWL grabbing an early five-run lead after the first inning. Coe clawed back with single runs in the first and third innings and exploded for six runs in the sixth. The frame featured a trio of homers from
Creighton Kreshel, Gavin Guns and
Jake Brosius, combining to put Coe ahead 8-6. La Crosse fought back with a pair of runs in the seventh and eighth innings, taking a 10-8 lead into the bottom of the eighth. The Kohawks answered with solo shots in the frame as
Jon Wille and
Tyce Johnson delivered two homers in a three-hitter stretch. The game went to extras tied at 10 and UWL struck in its first chance, getting a solo homer to regain an 11-10 lead. Brosius came through for Coe as it was down to its final out in the 10th, blasting a game-tying homer, his third of the day. Johnson capped off the emotional roller coaster with the biggest hit of them all, smashing a walk-off bomb to right-center.
COE 12 - UW-LA CROSSE 11 - 10 INNINGS
Game Facts
- UWL wasted no time in the first inning, smashing a two-run homer two batters into the game. The Eagles added three more runs before the end of the frame but Jack Walsh came out of the pen and ended the inning with a strikeout. Brosius quickly answered and got Coe back in it, driving a solo shot to left center. Ryan Thoreson cut further into the lead two innings later, driving home Wille with a double down the left-field line. UWL hit its second homer in the sixth, grabbing a 6-2 lead with a solo shot. Coe's explosive sixth started with leadoff runners in Thoreson and Jack Allison. Kreshel stepped to the plate two batters later and cut the lead to one, crushing a three-run homer to center. Guns came in clutch in the next at-bat, delivering a pinch-hit homer to knot the game at six. Brosius struck again a few batters later, driving his second homer of the game to right field to put Coe up 8-6. The Eagles answered with two runs in the seventh and eighth, hitting a game-tying homer in the seventh before a pair of RBI hits in the eighth put them ahead 10-8. Wille led off the eighth with a solo shot to halve the lead. Johnson tied the game two batters later with his first homer and second hit of the day, making it 10-10. UW-La Crosse got the lead in extras with its fourth homer of the game, using a solo shot to sneak in front. The Eagles got two quick outs and looked moments from the win until Brosius stepped to the plate, delivering a game-tying homer. Johnson wasted no time in the following at-bat, demolishing a two-strike pitch over the right-center field fence.
Up Next: Coe returns to the diamond tomorrow, Sunday, May 19, needing one win to advance to the Super Regional round. The Kohawks will face the winner of game five between Benedictine and UW-La Crosse at 11 AM. An if-necessary game two will follow approximately 30 minutes following game one's conclusion.
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