Coe baseball teams win NCAA opener

LA CROSSE, Wis. - Coe's baseball team tied the school record for wins in a season, knocking off St. John's (Minn.), 4-2, Wednesday in a NCAA Division III regional opener.

The Kohawks are 32-12 and face Ripon (24-13) in a winner's bracket game Thursday afternoon at 4:30. Ripon, the eighth seed, upset top-seeded defending national champion Wisconsin-Whitewater, 15-7, Wednesday.

St. John's scored the game's first run in the bottom of the first, but Coe responded with a two-spot in the second that put it ahead for good. A hit by pitch and three walks spurred the rally, with bases-loaded walks to Alec Zwanziger and Craig Konrardy scoring runs.

The Kohawks scored twice more in the fourth. A RBI single by Konrardy scored Zwanzinger, and Jack Hoffmann added another run-scoring hit.

Konrardy, Hoffmann and Grant Henning had two hits apiece to lead Coe. Konrardy became the 13th player in school history to surpass 150 career hits.

Starting pitcher Connor Alberhasky threw seven innings to notch the win. Hoffmann got the save.

Coe is the regional's fifth seed. St. John's was fourth.