Pella, Iowa -- 4/6/25-_Central College Softball vs Wis.-Platteville. Photo by Dan L. Vander Beek

The Central College softball team extended its winning streak to nine games with a sweep of a doubleheader against Cornell College on Thursday. The Dutch won the opening game 8-0 and defeated the Rams in the second game 11-0 in five innings.

Pitcher Emma Beck threw her seventh complete game of the season in game one, allowing just four hits and no walks, while also recording five strikeouts. In the second game, Beck pitched four innings allowing only two hits and striking out another five batters. She has now pitched 18.1 consecutive scoreless innings and lowered her season ERA to 1.92.

In the first game, Central (15-3) scored eight runs on nine hits. The scoring started in the second inning when Emma Jensen and Mariah Parton both had RBIs. Parton also stole home in the inning. Rylee Dunkin added a steal of home to score the fourth run in the fourth inning, while Emma Lenox hit a pinch hit two-RBI double and Larissa Miller had an RBI single to extend the lead in the frame. The final run came in the seventh inning, when Emma Anderson had Central’s third steal of home. Dunkin and Alexa Anderson led the team in hits with each having two, with Dunkin also scoring twice. In the second game of the doubleheader, the Dutch got out to an early 4-0 lead, before exploding for seven runs in the fifth inning. In the seven-run frame, Anderson, Lenox, Parton, Addi Starr, and Haley Bach all recorded RBIs. Elise Evans-Murphy recorded two RBIs in the inning with a pinch hit single. As a team, Central only recorded six hits, but drew five walks. Bach led the team with two hits in the second game, and also scored a run to extend her Central softball career runs scored record. 

The Dutch return home for their Strikeout Cancer Day on Saturday, hosting a doubleheader against Grinnell College at 1 pm that can be heard live on 92.1 KRLS.