The long ball was the Central College softball team’s undoing Tuesday as Nebraska Wesleyan went deep late to score the decisive runs in a pair of 3-2 decisions.
The Dutch tumbled in 10 innings in the opener as Nebraska Wesleyan walked it off on a lead-off homer in the 10th. The Prairie Wolves then got a solo blast in the sixth inning of the second game to break a 2-2 tie. Nebraska Wesleyan’s only other scoring in game two came from a 2-run homer in the third inning.
Sydni Huisman was stuck with the game two loss in her most extensive action since suffering a serious injury moments before the season opener. Huisman threw all six innings, allowing seven hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Franie Burnett had a run-scoring hit to put Central up 1-0 in the first inning. After falling behind 2-1 in the third inning, the Dutch tied it in the fourth on an RBI hit by Megan Doty. Central put together back-to-back two-out hits in the seventh inning but couldn’t push the tying run across. The Dutch had eight hits but stranded eight baserunners.
In the opener, pitcher Morgan Schaben pitched her way out of trouble most of the way before yielding the 10th-inning homer. Schaben allowed three runs on 11 hits with five walks and three strikeouts. Down 2-0, the Dutch broke through with a run in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Haley Bach. Central tied it in the sixth on a two-out, run-scoring hit by Doty, but Central fell as they were outhit 11-7. Emma Johnson, who earlier in the day was named the conference female athlete of the week, had three more hits on the day, keeping her average at a team-high .476.
Central, which entered the day in a first-place tie in the conference, now finds itself in a tie for fourth place with Buena Vista University. The Beavers are the next opponent for the Dutch, as they continue their trip Wednesday with a 5 p.m. twinbill at Storm Lake.
The Simpson College and Central College baseball teams scored a combined 10 runs in a Tuesday night doubleheader and Central came out on the wrong side of both 4-3 and 2-1.
The Dutch outhit the Storm by a 14-11 margin, but committed five errors compared to two for Simpson. Central also struck out 26 times as a team. Central had a pair of great outings from its starting pitchers. Marcus Wenzel struck out nine in eight innings pitched in the opener. He allowed one earned run and scattered three hits. Sam Staley got the ball in the nightcap and struck out three and yielded two runs in six innings. Kurby Vowels threw two scoreless frames at the end of game two. Landon Thiele pitched the ninth inning of the first game and took the loss after a Simpson walk-off. Staley was game two’s losing pitcher. Ian Boline led the team with four hits on the night. He scored Central’s only run in game two on a Jared Kampf single in the second inning. Tanner Bigelow had two hits and an RBI in game one.
Central steps out of conference play this weekend for a trip to Arden Hills, Minnesota for a three-game series with Bethel University (Minn.). The series starts with a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.