Post-Bulletin staff
LA CROSSE, Wis. — Brad Kohn carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but Western Technical College rallied, scoring all of its runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 4-1 victory over Rochester Community and Technical College.
WTC followed with a 12-8 victory in Game 2 of a junior college baseball doubleheader here Tuesday.
Kohn lasted 5 2/3 innings in the opener, allowing four earned runs on just two hits and three walks. He struck out six hitters.
RCTC took a 1-0 lead on Brendan McCabe’s RBI single in the third inning. WTC rallied with its only two hits of the game in the sixth, including a three-run home run.
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"Kohn pitched a great game for his first start," RCTC coach Steve Hucke said. "He kept the ball down and threw hard, we just didn’t do it behind him with the sticks. Their pitcher threw well, too. He kept us off-balance."
RCTC’s bats came to life in Game 2, but WTC used two big innings to earn the victory. It scored six runs in the second inning and five in the sixth inning.
Tony Nierman had a double and two RBIs for the Yellowjackets, while Wade Yunker was 2-for-3 with an RBI, Shane Brandt had an RBI and Jake Reisgraf had a double.
Cody Wepking suffered the loss for the Yellowjackets.
"We didn’t play that bad in both games," Hucke said. "We put the ball in play in the first game, hit some hard ground balls and they made the plays.
"In Game 2 we gave away some outs at key times and didn’t take advantage of some chances."
RCTC (11-14 overall, 2-2 MCAC) plays host to Dakota County Technical College on Saturday. The doubleheader is set to begin at 1 p.m. Both teams are 2-2 in conference play.
WTC 4, RCTC 1
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RCTC 001 000 0 — 1 4 1 —
WTC 000 004 x — 4 2 2
LP: Brad Kohn 5 2/3 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 H, 6 K, 3 BB.
WTC 12, RCTC 8
RCTC 221 100 2 — 8 8 2
WTC 160 005 x — 12 6 3
LP: Cody Wepking 1 1/3 IP, 6 R, 2 H, 1 K, 3 BB.
