Rob Coe has only been pitching for the Warhawks since mid-season. With the limited experience the senior from Appleton has been given the ball in a closer's role and asked to seal the deal by getting the final three outs of the game.
Coe rose to the occasion in Wednesday’s 3-2 victory over St. Thomas by retiring the Tommies one-two-three to earn his second save of the season.
Coe was asked to extend his mound-time Thursday afternoon as head coach John Vodenlich replaced Riley Tincher with nobody out and the bases loaded in the 8th inning.
“I was trying to get out of there with minimal damage,” Coe tells voiceseyeonbaseball.blogspot.com.
“I struck out the first guy out on a strikeout and I felt pretty good. On the next guy we had a bit of a defensive lapse resulted in all three Piper runners to score to tie the game.”
It was at that point of the game when the talented senior said to himself, “self it is time to step up and get out of this inning. I want to get out of this inning and be able to keep playing baseball.”
Coe eventually would get out of the jam by getting a two-out come-backer to the mound to end the inning and stranded the go-ahead runner at third base.
(In the adjacent photo - Rob Coe took his catchers gear off for the second straight day for a walk to the mound in the closers roll. Coe pitched a career-high three innings to earn his second save in two days. UW-Whitewater defeated Hamline University (Minn) 7-6 in 10 innings - photo courtesy of Jeff Seisser, Daily Jefferson County Union)Coe gave up a lead-off single in the ninth but retired the next three batters to force extra-innings tied at six-all.
The Hawks took the lead on Dylan Friends two-out double to drive in Matt Beyer who tripled with two out in the 10th.
Coe slammed the door on Hamline retiring the Pipers one-two-three in the 10th to keep UW-Whitewater unbeaten in the double-elimination Midwest Regional.
The feeling of momentum was distinctly palatable for UW-Whitewater players, coaches and fans following the extra inning victory to stay unbeaten in the tournament.
“I really feel good about tomorrow,” Coe said.
Th Warhawks need two wins to advance to the Division III World Series next week in Grand Chute.
Remember, if it was easy to accomplish the feat everybody would be doing it!”
Whitewater will play either UW-Stevens Point or Hamline in Friday’s final game set for 4 p.m. at James B. Miller Stadium.
Click here for UWW vs Hamline box score
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