Box Score

LA CROSSE, Wis. – Saint John's baseball opened the NCAA Regional with a 4-2 loss to Coe (Iowa) on Wednesday, May 13, at Copeland Park in La Crosse, Wis.

The Johnnies (26-15, 12-6 MIAC) will play the top seed, No. 3 Wisconsin-Whitewater (33-10, 18-6 WIAC), in an elimination game at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 14. The defending NCAA Division III national champions, Whitewater fell to eighth-seeded Ripon (Wis.) by a 15-7 score Wednesday.

SJU cracked 10 hits, but left nine on base and hit into three double plays. Coe (32-12, 17-11 IIAC) scored all four of its runs with two outs.

The Johnnies started the game with six hits in the first two innings, including back-to-back singles from senior centerfield Aaron Pfaff (New Ulm, Minn./Cathedral) and sophomore third baseman Derek Schiebel (Apple Valley, Minn.), but only scored one run and left the bases loaded in the first. Junior catcher Gabe MacDonald (Minneapolis, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) extended his hitting streak to 27 games and put SJU on the scoreboard first with an RBI single, scoring Pfaff, in the first.

Senior Tyler Delwiche (Andover, Minn./Totino-Grace) fell into some two-out trouble with two bases-loaded walks in the second inning. He surrendered a leadoff single but bounced back with two straight outs before hitting Michael Redmond on the first pitch of the at-bat. Delwiche then walked Cole Tomlinson to load the bases before the strike zone shrunk for the No. 9 batter, 5-foot-7 Alec Zwanziger. Delwiche looked to have struck out Zwanziger looking with a beautiful, full-count curveball, but the umpire called it a ball and enabled the first Kohawk run to cross the plate. He then walked the leadoff batter, Craig Konrardy, for the second run of the inning before posting his third strikeout of the game to end the side.

Coe added two more runs in the fourth inning thanks to three consecutive two-out singles.

Pfaff started the fifth with a single, his third of the game, advanced to second on an errant pickoff attempt by the catcher and scored on a pair of wild pitches.

Delwiche went the distance, allowing the four runs on 10 hits in nine innings to fall to 3-4 on the year. He struck out five and walked six.

Pfaff went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, while senior leftfielder Tom Druk (Plymouth, Minn./Orono) and junior first baseman Patrick Strey (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) added two hits apiece.

Both teams were 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position. All 20 hits in the game were singles.