After going down 8-3 in the third inning, the Central College baseball team battled back for a 13-9 victory over Grinnell College on Tuesday.

The Dutch lost two of its hottest hitters early in the game after both Ian Boline and Declan O’Hare were hit by pitches and were removed from the game. Pella High graduate Landon Vander Leest relieved O’Hare and notched a pair of doubles, including a three-RBI knock in the fifth inning to take the lead. Logan McCoy took Boline’s spot in the outfield and chipped in with two hits and an RBI. Dom De LaPaz hit his fifth home run this month in the third inning and notched a hit in his 11th straight game in the process. The Dutch reshuffled the lineup with Lucas Farren taking over the leadoff spot and it instantly paid off. He was hit by a pitch in the first inning, reached on an error in the fourth, and walked in the fifth and scored all three times. His two-RBI single in the sixth gave Central the lead for good. Landon Thiele was the winning pitcher after 2.1 innings of relief, striking out four and allowing two runs on four hits. Marcus Wenzel buzzed through the Pioneer lineup in the 8th and 9th innings for his first save, striking out four of the eight batters faced.

The Dutch moved to 14-18 on the season, matching last year’s win total with seven games left to play. It was also career win number 400 for head coach Casey Klunder, including his 16-year career at Waverly-Shell Rock High School. Central heads to Nebraska Wesleyan University for a weekend series, starting with a single game Friday at 3 p.m.