CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa—The No. 21 Wartburg (33-9 overall) advanced in the Iowa Conference Tournament with its 5-4 win over Coe Friday.

KCRG recap

Coe took the early 2-0 lead in the top of the first as it was able to capitalize on some Knights’ fielding errors.

“We had a little bit of a bad start after a rough night,” said head coach Joel Holst.

The team’s bus broke down after last night’s game and the team spent the night sleeping in the suites at Veterans Memorial stadium.

“Our players were cold, sleeping on the floor without pillows and that was the strangest thing I’ve been a part of,” commented Holst.

J.D. Hunter hits a sacrifice fly to right in the sixth to take the 3-0 lead.

The Orange and Black took the 5-3 lead in the bottom of the frame.

After back to back singles by junior Craig Kerper (Dyersville) and senior Andrew Krehbiel (Donnellson), senior Ryan Doty (Dubuque) was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs.

Junior Joe Grote (Kenyon, Minn.) hit a shallow single to right field and advanced to second on an error. Kerper and Krehbiel both scored for Wartburg’s first runs of the day. Grote entered the game after junior Ryan Powers (Wheatland) went down with an injury. This was Grote’s sixth game played this season.

The next batter, Drew Yoder, singled and Doty beats the tag at home plate to tie the score at three all.

Grote later scored on a wild pitch to take the 4-3 lead and sophomore Blake Wilson (Bettendorf) drove in Yoder on his single to centerfield to increase the margin to two.

The Kohawks answered in the top of the seventh as the first two batters reached on fielding errors and Nick Stein drove in the leadoff man with his single to slice Wartburg’s lead to one at 5-4.

In its last at-bats, the first two Coe batters reached on a single and hit by pitch. Senior Michael Schinstock (Urbandale) entered the game in attempt of his fifth save and second consecutive.  

Stein hit into a double play, the next batter drew a walk and the final out was made on a flyout to seal the win for Wartburg.

Grote finished a perfect 2-2 with a run scored and an RBI.

“This was not the first time Grote has stepped up in a big way as he did this at the conference tournament his freshman year,” said Holst. “He had some key hits for us and is one of those role players that will do anything and is ready to go to step in when needed.

“Everyone wanted to win for Powers,” he continued.

“Seeing Ryan go down with an injury was really tough as he’s one of my best friends and is the best player in the league,” said Grote. “I wanted to do the best I could for the team and I know I can’t fill his shoes, but knew this was a big game for us. I did the best I could and played for my teammates.”

Junior Ben Rettenmeier (Cedar Rapids) earned his eighth win of the year in his eight complete innings of work with five strikeouts.

Wartburg will play Saturday at 1 p.m. against the winner of the 10 a.m. game.