WAVERLY, Iowa -- The Coe College Kohawks bowed out of the 2021 NCAA Division III Tournament going 0-2 Saturday afternoon, as the bats were silent while dropping two games to the top two regional seeds, the St. Thomas Tommies (8-1) and St. Olaf Oles (2-0).
Game 1: St. Thomas 8, Coe 1
The first game of the day for the Kohawks was against second-seeded Tommies of the University of St. Thomas (29-8). The Tommies jumped on the board early scoring two runs to kickoff the game, as the visiting team in the contest. The Kohawks wouldn't be deturred in the bottom half as
Ruby Kappeler reached on an error, coming around to score on a
Skyler Stookey RBI double to cut the St. Thomas lead to one at 2-1. That would be all the offense Coe would see in the game, only picking up three hits against the dominant performance in the circle from the Tommies' Kierstin Anderson-Glass. Heading to the fifth inning, St. Thomas held a 3-1 lead but broke it open with a four run fifth inning to extend their lead to 7-1. Adding one more in the sixth to make it 8-1 would be all Anderson-Glass needed as she kept the Kohawk offense off the bases and off the scoreboard for the rest of the game.
Game 2: St. Olaf 2, Coe 0
In a game the Kohawks had to win to keep their NCAA Tournament run alive, fans were treated to another pitchers duel this afternoon against No. 1-seed St. Olaf (26-7). This time saw the Kohawks on the flip side then the result on Friday evening. For the second time in this regional, the Kohawks went toe-for-toe with a higher seeded opponent, scoreless through the first four frames. In those four frames, both teams had opportunities getting runners on and into scoring position, but each time
Ellie Thurow and St. Olaf's Julie Graf worked their way out of trouble. The game only saw five total hits, but the biggest hit came in the fifth inning when the Oles Tarah DeCrook connected with a ball that went over the fence in left center field giving St. Olaf the 2-0 lead. That was all St. Olaf needed to take down the Kohawks, as starting pitcher Graf only allowed two Kohawk hits. On the offensive side of the ball, only two hits could be mustered. A double for
Madi Parson and a single to
Skyler Stookey was the only offense Coe would get against Graf.
The opening round win on Friday over No. 3-seed Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) marks the fifth-straight NCAA Division III softball tournament that the American Rivers Conference has had at least one victory in regional play. For the fourth-straight NCAA tournament (2017-19, 2021), head coach
Diane Meyer has led the Kohawks to at least one win in regional play, including an appearance in the regional finals in 2017 and 2018.
