A stellar spring continued at the plate for Colton DeRocher in a 13-12 Central College baseball win over Bowdoin College (Maine) Thursday, while the Central softball team had to settle for a split at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic. 

The Dutch baseball team trailed twice and were knotted at 12-12 before back-to-back balks by the Polar Bears in the ninth inning plated the winning run. DeRocher drove in five runs from the clean-up spot in the lineup and tied the school record for hits in a game with five. Ian Boline, Logan McCoy and Lucas Farren each added a pair of hits. On the base paths, McCoy had a stolen base and the Dutch also moved up on three wild pitches and a passed ball. Marcus Wenzel was the winning pitcher after pitching the final nine outs. Kurby Vowels started the game and went three innings. Nathan McCombs tossed the middle three innings. Each allowed four runs. 

After a disappointing 6-3 setback against Wilmington College (Ohio), the Dutch softball team stole a school-record 12 bases in outscoring SUNY Brockport 8-4. Franie Burnett had six steals on the day, including five against SUNY Brockport, matching the school record set in 1993 and tied in 2009. Central dug a 4-0 hole after five innings against Wilmington and never drew closer than three runs the rest of the way. Chloe Dougherty started and finished the game, with the middle innings being pitched by Emma Neu and Sabrina Tallman. Dougherty allowed two runs on five hits with two walks in taking the loss. Burnett and center fielder Emma Johnson each had two hits, but the Dutch were outhit 11-8. Morgan Schaben evened her record at 3-3 on the season in four innings of work in the circle against SUNY Brockport. Dougherty came back with three innings of scoreless relief with two strikeouts. Designated player Lauren Birt went 3-for-3 at the plate, while Burnett, Johnson and Haley Bach each had two hits. 

The Florida trip wraps up for the Dutch baseball team today with a doubleheader of seven-inning games at 8 a.m. local time in Winter Haven against the SUNY – Poly, who they defeated 19-12 on Monday. Central softball returns to action at 8 a.m. locally today against Skidmore College (N.Y.) before meeting the University of Maine at Presque Isle at 11 a.m. and both games can be heard live on the KRLS 3 stream at kniakrls.com.