No. 4-ranked UW-L rolls, Kohlwey extends hit streak

The Holmen native moves into tie for second all-time in DII.

It took exactly one at-bat for him to move into a tie for the second-longest hitting streak in NCAA Division III history.

In the first inning of the Midwest Regional, Holmen, Wis., native Taylor Kohlwey hit a solo home run (picture above) to extend the hit streak to 46 games.

It wasn’t even his most impressive hit, as Kohlwey improved his batting average to .497 on the season, going 3-for-5 with two home runs, a triple and five RBI.

In doing so, he led the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball to a 17-2 thrashing of Beloit at Copeland Park.

The Eagles (35-8), the top seed and fourth-ranked team in the nation looking to get back to the College World Series championship for the second consecutive season and second time in school history, will play at 4:30 p.m. today against unranked and fifth-seeded Saint John’s (29-12).

Kohlwey could move into second place all-time by himself with a hit today, but he won’t have a chance at the record, which is the longest hit streak in all of baseball history – 60 games by Damian Constantino from 2001-2003.

UW-L pitcher Caleb Boushley (above) improved to 9-0 on the season, striking out five and walking two in a three-hit shutout through six innings.

The Eagles had 23 hits in the win – the most this season. They scored in every inning but one.

Justin Anderson also had three hits (3-for-4) for UW-L, including a two-run home run (below) in the fifth inning. His other two hits were doubles.

Alex Brown went to the plate five times and reached all five times for the Eagles. The junior was 3-for-3, with two RBI, two runs scored and two walks.