Coe Sweeps Central Baseball Team in Home Opener
It was a pair of low-scoring affairs but Coe College swept a Friday afternoon baseball doubleheader against Central College with 4-0, 6-2 wins.
In the second game, Central punched across two runs in the bottom of the third inning, as Dylan Williams jump started the offense with a double and was driven in by a Jaden Kramer single. Kramer would also come around to score on a Max Steinlage single. Shortstop Garrett Guenther’s two singles made him the only Dutch player with multiple hits on the day. Mark Kenney went 6.2 innings on the mound in game two, giving up four earned runs. He had five strikeouts and four walks while giving up five hits. He was done in by a bases loaded double with two outs in the seventh inning. Jackson Torbit piled up nine strikeouts as Central’s starting pitcher in game one. He yielded just two earned runs in his seven innings of work but was hampered by four walks and a hit batsman. Central’s offense in the first game was limited to a single by David DiStefano in the third inning.
The two teams will attempt to complete the three-game series today with a single nine-inning game at 1 pm, and the contest can be heard live on 92.1 KRLS.
Central Softball Team Earns Sweep over Bethany Lutheran
Led by two complete games from pitcher Emma Beck, the Central College softball team swept a doubleheader against Bethany Lutheran College.
The Dutch won the opening game of the twinbill 4-2, before taking the nightcap 11-3 in five innings. In the first game, Central had six hits from six different players, while also drawing three walks. Alexa Anderson continued her hot start to the season as she hit her first career home run. Emma Jensen and Addi Starr also had RBIs. Beck pitched all seven innings of the opener and allowed two runs on seven hits while also striking out three hitters.
In the second game, Central’s offense exploded with a five-run second inning, in which Rylee Dunkin, Jensen, and Haley Bach collected RBIs. As a team the Dutch would total 10 hits with Dunkin, Jensen and Carley Underwood each having two hits while also scoring two runs. Starr, Bach and Jensen also had two RBIs a piece, while Hannah Higgins and Dunkin added one. Beck pitched all five innings of the second game and limited the Vikings to two earned runs on three hits.
The Dutch will play its opening American Rivers Conference games on Friday, when they travel to Simpson College for a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.
Dutch Start Outdoor Track and Field Season at Home
Blustery conditions were the story of the day at the outdoor season opener for the Central College track and field teams at the Central Dutch Invitational Friday.
There were no team scores kept in a meet that featured student-athletes from 15 different programs including NCAA Division I and III, NAIA, NJCAA and NCCAA institutions. The weather was a big factor all day long as wind gusts of over 40 miles per hour were frequent. Gunner Meyer won the men’s 110-meter hurdles in 14.23 seconds and was also second in the high jump with a clearance of 6 feet, 6.75 inches. Junior women’s sprinter Emily McMartin was third in the 200-meter dash in 24.73, which is also the third-fastest time in program history. McMartin also ran the second leg of the winning 4×400-meter relay team with Lizzy Van Utrecht, Danika Arnold and Ava Parkins in a time of 4:01.06. Central’s duo of Jack Every and William Wadsley went 1-2 in the men’s 3,000-metter race, with Every taking the crown in 9:17.36 and Wadsley trailing narrowly with a time of 9:19.97.
The Dutch travel to the Wartburg Outdoor Select next Friday and Saturday in Waverly.