The No. 24-ranked Central College softball team toppled Simpson College Saturday 7-2 in the American Rivers Conference Tournament semifinals but fell 5-3 the title game against Coe College.
Coe receives the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Championships, and the Dutch will wait to hear if their name is called when the 62-team tournament field is revealed at 10 am Monday on NCAA.com.
Emma Beck absorbed the loss. Beck, the winner in the earlier game against Simpson, allowed four runs on six hits and four walks over 5.0 innings with three strikeouts. Morgan Schaben gave up a run on three hits with two strikeouts in the final two innings. Beck allowed a run on three hits with two walks over 4.2 innings in the semifinal game against Simpson. Central outhit Simpson 8-6 and played errorless defense in both games. A six-run third inning was all Central needed to notch its third victory of the year over Simpson. Haley Bach and Franie Burnett each had two hits in the opener and three hits on the day.
Central absorbed some injuries Saturday and will get some rest before NCAA tourney play begins Thursday, assuming the Dutch advance.
Central Wins Eight Events at Conference Track and Field Meet
The Central College track and field teams won eight events at the American Rivers Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska Thursday through Saturday.
The Dutch women, who won a pair of events Friday, added four more event victories to secure third place in the meet. The Central men added two wins Saturday, taking fourth place in the league championships.
Abbi Roerdink broke a 40-year-old school record in claiming the 400-meter crown in 55.75 seconds, eclipsing former NCAA champion Nancy Cisar’s 1984 mark of 55.79 seconds. Then Roerdink anchored Central’s 4×400-meter relay unit which won with a season-best 3:49.26, joined by Lizzy Van Utrecht, Emily McMartin, and Ava Parkins. The Dutch distance crew raked in points for Central, as Caroline McMartin led a near-sweep of the 1,500 meters in a school-record 4 minutes, 29.24 seconds. Megan Johnson crossed the line in second (4:30.38), Peyton Steffen was third (4:31.71) and Addison Parrott was sixth (4:42.31), giving the Dutch 27 points in the event. Johnson came back to win the 5,000 meters on short rest (17:09.13) with McMartin third (17:25.25), Parrott fourth (17:54.26) and Lindsey Davidson sixth (18:45.87).
Noah Jorgenson secured his first conference outdoor crown, winning the 1,500 meters in 3:50.09. Kale Purcell added the Central men’s other individual league title, winning the triple jump in 47 feet, 6.5 inches. One of the more remarkable stories of the weekend came in the men’s pole vault. Brody Klein, rebounding from a major injury suffered late in the football season, finished second in the event at 15-3.5.
The Dutch will send several athletes to a last-chance qualifier meet at the Augustana in Rock Island, Illinois on Thursday, looking to get qualifiers into the NCAA Division III Championships May 23rd-25th in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.