CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- The No. 2-seeded Coe College Kohawks capitalized on a five-run first inning to force a winner-take-all championship game, defeating the No. 4-seeded Wartburg College baseball team (25-15 overall) 9-6 Saturday in the American Rivers Conference Tournament at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The Knights and Kohawks will square off once more for the A-R-C Tournament title on Sunday, May 10, at 11 a.m. in Cedar Rapids.
Sunday's championship matchup will mark the sixth meeting between the two programs this season, with Coe holding a narrow 3-2 advantage in the season series.
Wartburg put up a pair of early runs on the scoreboard, after
Griffin Troha started off the title game with a single up the middle.
Andrew Robinson was plunked for the third time in the tournament (28th of the season) to stick runners on first and second.
Jayden Scott put one in play to move Troha to third, while
Andrew Gallegos followed with an RBI-single over the head of Coe's second basemen to put the Knights in front 1-0.
Tanner Jackson then brought around Scott to give Wartburg a 2-0 advantage through the opening frame.
Coe (30-13 overall) answered in the home half with five runs on a pair of Wartburg miscues to take a 5-2 lead.
Aidan Smith took over for starter
Kam Volz (3-2) to start the second – just his fourth appearance of the season.
Gallegos collected his second hit of the afternoon to lead off the third, later brought around by
Keegan Schmitt's RBI-single to inch back within two at 5-3.
Smith allowed his first hit in 2.2 innings, as Ryan Brosius of Coe poked a two-out triple down the line.
The Kohawks took a 7-3 lead in the fifth after a three-hit, two-run frame.
In the sixth, Troha blooped an RBI single to plate Schmitt, who doubled, to crawl back within three.
Coe began the bottom half of the sixth with four straight singles to tally two more runs to lead 9-4.
Scott tallied his first hit of the ball game in the seventh, a double to left, as Gallegos quickly traded places to plate his second RBI to make it 9-5. Jackson then cut the deficit down to three after an RBI groundout, 9-6.
Tucker Ladeburg made his seventh appearance of the season in the bottom half, shutting down the Kohawk offense with two hitless frames. Coe was able to limit Wartburg to just one hit during the eighth and ninth innings and forced a winner-take-all championship game Sunday, May 10.
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NOTES
Gallegos went 3-for-4 with two singles, a double and two RBI…Troha, Robinson, and Schmitt collected two hits a piece…the Knights struck out just four times…Wartburg left nine runners on the basepaths…Volz, Smith, Byrne and Ladeburg sat down six Kohawks…Smith tossed a season-high 3.1 innings, allowing just four hits and two runs in his fourth appearance…Wartburg and Coe will see each other for the sixth time this season (2-3 season record, 62-44 all-time)…Wartburg is 70-43 all-time in the league tournament…9-4 as the No. 4 seed…The last time a 4-seed won the A-R-C Championship, was when Wartburg did so back in 2009…Wartburg looks to claim its first title since 2017…Wartburg has captured a league-leading 10 tournament titles, as well as made its 19th championship game appearance.
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