Split Foils Central Softball Tourney Bid

The Central College softball team had their season come to an end on Sunday in a wind-blown 8-0 five-inning loss to Coe College that followed a 7-0 victory, with both games being aired live on 92.1 KRLS. After winning game one of the doubleheader, the Dutch were just one win away from an American Rivers Conference tournament berth, but fell just short. 

Pitcher Morgan Schaben sparkled in the opener, shutting out Coe on just two hits over six innings before Emma Neu retired the Kohawks in order in the seventh. Megan Stuhr had three of Central’s six hits and knocked in a pair of runs. Meanwhile, Coe committed nine errors. The Dutch tried to ride Schaben for a few more innings in game two but Coe plated two runs in the first-inning. Sydni Huisman entered in the second inning but with no more success, giving up six runs on four hits with four walks over three innings before Neu tossed the final frame. 

The Dutch softball squad will graduate five seniors: Lauren Birt, Kellie Prince, Sabrina Tallman, Emma Snyder, and Meredith Mahoney. The loss means that Central will miss the six-team conference tourney for the first time since it was reinstated in 2006. Central finished the season with a 21-17 overall record, and a 7-9 conference record, while playing the third toughest schedule in Division III softball. 

Central Baseball Team Splits with Nebraska Wesleyan

A nine-run explosion in the eighth inning for Central baseball secured a 16-6 win in the opener at Nebraska Wesleyan University Sunday, but the Dutch had to settle for the split after falling in the nightcap 9-6. 

Jared Kampf led off the eighth inning with a single and Central poured it on with six more hits. Kampf and Lucas Farren, who was hit by two pitches in the inning, both scored two runs in the frame. Seven Central starters had multi-hit games as Central had a season-high 19 hits in the opener. Declan O’Hare was 4-for-5 with two RBIs, and Colton DeRocher was 3-for-6 with four RBIs. Kyler Watson also had three hits in game one. O’Hare struck out five as the winning pitcher in the first game, while allowing six runs in 6.1 innings pitched. Parker Jones closed it out with his first save of the year. In game two, Watson had three more hits including a pair of doubles. O’Hare finished the weekend series an incredible 10-for-12 with four extra-base hits, four runs scored and eighth RBI.

Central’s record sits at 15-20 overall, and 3-18 in American Rivers Conference play following the split. The Dutch begin the final week of the regular season on Tuesday with a non-conference game at Grinnell College at 4 p.m. Central then closes out the year with a three-game weekend series at Luther on Friday.