Eagles are a long shot to get at-large bid
The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team needed two miracles Saturday to win the WIAC tournament championship.
The Eagles only got one.
In an elimination game Saturday against third-ranked UW-Whitewater – where the Warhawks would take the WIAC title with a win – UW-L came back from a four-run, ninth-inning deficit to win Game 1 9-8.
In the winner-take-all championship immediately following the comeback win, the Eagles found themselves, again, down five runs in the ninth. The second time, however, the Warhawks held on 8-3 to win the title, and all but end UW-L’s chances to get back to the College World Series for a third consecutive season.
Being unranked heading into the tournament, UW-L most likely needed the automatic bid to get back to the NCAA tournament. Earning an at-large bid seems unlikely.
The Eagles are 28-18 and only 13 teams are awarded an at-large bid. Those will be announced either tonight or early Monday.
UW-W (34-7) will move on to the NCAA regional, which begins Wednesday.