Central Rallies Past Coe for Baseball Split
Overcoming a five-run deficit in the final innings of game two, the Central College baseball team secured the doubleheader split with Coe College by winning 11-9. The Dutch (6-5, 1-1 American Rivers Conference) were run-ruled by the Kohawks 13-3 in the first game.
Central found itself trailing 9-4 with two outs in the top of the eighth and a runner on first. Back-to-back singles by Logan McCoy and Colton DeRocher kept the inning alive and helped Central close the gap to 9-5. A Kohawk error and a Declan O’Hare double put Central within two runs. Garrrett Finley leveled the game 9-9 with a two-run blast over the center field fence.
After a scoreless bottom of the eighth, Central got two quick outs sandwiched around a runner reaching base via error in the top of the ninth. A Max Steinlage single put the winning run on third. Steinlage stole second to put two in scoring position. Chase Martin would scamper home on a wild pitch and Steinlage would come around after the catcher’s throw to the plate got away from the pitcher and down the right field line. The Dutch outhit the Kohawks 16-12 in the second game. McCoy had four singles while DeRocher, O’Hare, Finley and Chance Dreyer each had two hits.
Central got three solid performances out of the bullpen. Zach DeMarlie allowed a pair of earned runs in the sixth and seventh innings in relief of the starter O’Hare. Wes Hamor came in for a three up, three down eighth inning before Parker Jones polished the win off with a scoreless ninth inning for his second save. O’Hare struck out four, yielding five earned runs as the starting pitcher.
In the opener, Dreyer took the loss on the mound in the opener, allowing nine earned runs over four innings of work. McCoy and Finley each had two hits in the losing effort.
The rubber match of the three-game series between Central and Coe in Cedar Rapids is today at 1 p.m. and can be heard live on 92.1 KRLS.
Central Walks Its Way to Softball Sweep
Patience at the plate produced 16 walks and a pair of softball wins Friday as No. 19-ranked Central College swept Greenville University (Ill.) 4-3 and 8-0 in six innings in their home season opener.
Designated player Emma Lenox lined a seventh-inning single off the left-field fence for a walk-off win in the opener. Lenox drove in all four Central runs in the game. The Dutch (15-3) let a 3-0 sixth-inning lead slip away as Greenville (5-3) got a 3-run double to deep center field off reliever Morgan Schaben. But starter Sydni Huisman returned to throw a scoreless seventh inning. Then third baseman Franie Burnett walked to start the seventh and eventually scored on Lenox’s hit. Huisman (8-1) was charged with one run over 6.2 innings with two hits, a walk and five strikeouts. Central mustered just four hits in the game and three in the second contest.
Freshman Emma Beck, in her collegiate home debut, tossed five shutout innings in the nightcap. Beck (3-0) gave up just a hit while walking three and striking out seven. Schaben threw the sixth inning and allowed two hits but held Greenville scoreless. Left fielder Megan Doty used one of Greenville’s nine second-game walks to give Central the lead in the second inning, stealing second, advancing to third on a force out and scoring on a daring theft of home, her 11th steal of the season. Burnett lined a two-run double into the left-center field gap in the third inning and then Central added three more runs in the fifth on just one hit, a bunt single by shortstop Carson Fisk. The Dutch ended it with two runs in the sixth, getting a walk-off single from Burnett, who had two hits in the game. Central mustered only seven hits on the day.
Second baseman Haley Bach was on base six times and tied her own school record with four walks in the second game. The record was originally set by Katie Tenboer in 2011 and then tied by Bach last year.
Central is home again Tuesday with a 2 p.m. doubleheader against Grinnell College at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex softball field. Grinnell is 9-5 after wrapping up a trip to Florida Friday.