It took a pair of wins Sunday in La Crosse, but the UW-La Crosse Eagles earned their first ever trip to the NCAA Division 3 College Baseball World Series.
The Eagles won Game 1, 5-4, on Ben Morgan’s RBI single in the top of the ninth against Coe College (Iowa).
Needing yet another victory against the Kohawks, UW-L found themselves down 4-2 early after surrendering a couple of home runs. Then the Eagles (33-13) got hot, scoring seven runs in the sixth inning en route to a 15-4 Midwest Region-clinching victory.
The No. 20 Eagles will open the D3 World Series Friday against No. 5 Salisbury (Md.) at 6:45pm at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton.
Defending national champion and third-ranked UW-Whitewater (35-11) had their reign end Saturday in La Crosse with an 8-7 setback to Concordia-Chicago (Ill.), who had previously knocked off MWC champion Ripon.
At the Central Regional in Waterloo, Iowa, CCIW champion Carthage College (30-15) rallied through the loser’s bracket to reach a championship game against No. 24 Webster University, but lost 5-1 to the Gorlocks. Webster had eliminated WIAC champion UW-Stevens Point (33-14) with a 4-2 victory.
Meanwhile, Madison Area Technical College is headed to the NJCAA Division 2 World Series for a sixth-straight year after a 9-1 victory over Oakton Comm. College Sunday to win the Region IV tournament in Schaumburg, Ill. The Wolfpack (42-10) will play UConn-Avery Point Saturday in Enid, Oklahoma.