The Central baseball team bounced back from a loss in their first game in Florida on Sunday to earn a pair of wins over Curry College and Suny Poly on Monday, while the softball team opened their Florida spring trip with a pair of wins over Oneonta State and Suny Canton.

The Dutch used 26 hits to plate 24 runners on the baseball diamond Monday at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational to hold off Curry College (Mass.) 5-4 before slugging its way to a 19-12 win over Suny Poly. Offensively, Central scored multiple runs in six of its 18 innings played. In addition to its 26 hits, 20 Central runners reached base via a walk or being hit by a pitch. Declan O’Hare went 7-for-9 at the plate on the day and struck out eight in 6.1 innings pitched in the first game, allowing just one unearned run. Nathan McCombs earned the win in relief over Curry, striking out two of the three batters he faced. John Berislavich came into game two in the third inning and got the win after pitching 5.2 innings and striking out three. Colton DeRocher had three hits and three RBI between the two games, and Lucas Farren had four hits and two RBIs. With the wins, Central Baseball improved to 4-1 on the young season.

The Central softball team swept Oneonta State 3-2 and Suny-Canton 15-0 in five innings behind Megan Stuhr and Haley Bach’s four hits each at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic. The Dutch had to rally in the opener trailing the Red Dragons 2-1 in the fourth inning. Megan Doty bounced a run-scoring single through the infield to start the rally and pinch-hitter Emma Lenox hit a double over the center fielder’s head to bring in the lead run. Pitcher Morgan Schaben followed with three shutout innings to get the complete-game win, allowing just one earned run and striking out six. Against SUNY-Canton, the Dutch unleashed a 13-hit attack and swiped seven stolen bases to earn the victory. Chloe Dougherty threw three innings of three-hit ball, to get the win in the five-inning game. Emma Neu threw two scoreless innings of relief, as the Central softball team improved to 3-5 in the early part of the season.

Central baseball will play a pair of seven inning games in a doubleheader today against Knox College (Ill.) in Davenport, Florida at 9:45 a.m. (EST), while the Dutch softball team has a doubleheader against SUNY-Canton this morning at 9 a.m. (EST) before meeting Kenyon College (Ohio) at approximately 11 a.m. That second softball game can be heard live on the KRLS 3 Stream at KNIAKRLS.com