RALEIGH, N.C. -- Coe, a surprise No. 4-seed, used a Leslie Schnack double in the bottom of the seventh to move No. 5-seed Ithaca to the loser's bracket of the NCAA Division III national tournament.
Schnack's double extended her streak of game-winning hits to three after doing it twice to Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the Rock Island regional last weekend.
Those victories over Wisconsin-Eau Claire meant a No. 4-seeding for Coe, the only unranked team in the eight-team field.
Coe's Ellie Schultz did her part from the circle, facing only one hitter more than the minimum, giving up only four hits and one run in her complete game win.
Both team remained scoreless until the bottom of the fifth, when Coes's Chris Engle singled and was advanced to second on a Schnack sacrifice bunt. Shortstop Ashley Leonard double to second to give the Kohawks the 1-0 lead.
Ithaca would answer in the top of the seventh when Hannah Shalett scored on a Leigh Bonkowski double.
It looked as if the game would go into extra frames as Ithaca hurler Nicole Cade retired the first two hitters; however, Cade walked the next two Coe hitters to put Jana Bradley into scoring position. Schnack hit a fly ball that just cleared Ithaca leftfielder Stacey Bartels' head to score Bradley for the 2-1 victory.
Coe moves on to face Rutgers-Camden in a winner's bracket game tomorrow at 4 p.m., while Ithaca will face Ramapo in the first elimination game at 11 a.m.