AUBURNDALE, FLA.— A single in the bottom of the ninth inning by Oglethorpe University (Ga.) provided the winning margin as the Central College baseball team lost 4-3 to wrap its trip to Florida.

Tied 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Oglethorpe (10-6) center fielder and No. 9 hitter Britton Araujo poked the ball through the right side of the Central (2-5) infield to drive home the game-clinching run.

Central got another dynamic pitching performance out of Dylan Diveney (sophomore, Marshalltown), who went seven innings and struck out seven Stormy Petrel batters.

Saturday also brought the return of Blake Judkins (junior, Marshalltown),who toed the rubber for the last two innings and was saddled for the loss after the walk-off.

"It's his first time on the mound during a game in almost exactly a year," Schirm said. "He threw strikes and they didn't really hit the ball hard off him. We just didn't do enough offensively to help him and Dylan out.

Central pounded out seven hits, but struggled to put them together and score runs.

"We pitched and played defense well," Schirm said. "We just didn't the ball enough to pull out a win."

Speedy centerfielder Seth Griffiths (junior, Ottumwa) beat out an infield single in the top of the sixth, driving in two runs for the Dutch

"The nice thing about Seth is that he can run really well," Schirm said. "If he puts the ball in play on the ground, even if it's not well-hit, he's going to have a chance to beat it out."

Shortstop Noah Stochl (junior, New Hampton) went 3-for-5 at the plate and scored two of the team's three runs.

Despite a 2-5 record, Schirm was still optimistic but what he saw from his young team during their time in Florida.

We battled all week long," he said. "I was extremely happy with how we competed. There's a lot of positive things going forward even though we're a little disappointed with the win-loss record.

Central will have its home opener next Saturday with a doubleheader against the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) starting at noon.