PELLA — For the second straight day, the Central College baseball team salvaged a split, winning 8-7 on the back end of a twinbill after dropping the opener 3-1 Sunday.

The Dutch (4-9, 2-2 conf.) and Norse (13-3, 2-2 conf.) traded the lead for much of the second game. Central threw the final blow in the bottom of the seventh with a pinch hit double by Kyle Crampton (sophomore, Omaha, Neb., Millard South HS) that drove in two runs.

Mark Schroeder (senior, Chariton)picked up the win in relief of starter Charlie Palmer (freshman, Chariton). Palmer went 5.1 innings and struck out three while Schroeder went 2.2 innings with two strikeouts. Dylan Diveney (sophomore, Marshalltown) picked up the save after striking out two in the ninth inning.

"The pitchers did their job. It was a pretty good performance by all three of those guys," Schirm said. "Having Dylan come in and close the door was big."

Garrett Saunders (freshman, Bonaparte, Iowa, Van Buren HS) led the Dutch offensively with a 3-for-7 performance, including two doubles and a home run.

"He's going to be a pretty special player," Schirm said. "He has an outstanding work ethic and he's only going to keep getting better."

Despite taking the loss, game one starter Dakotah Wolken (senior, Dillon, Iowa, East Marshall HS) was strong in 6.2 innings, giving up just one earned run on five Norse hits.

"Dakotah pitched really well," Schirm said. "We just didn't back him up defensively or offensively. He did everything he needed to do to help us win the game."

Facing a quick turnaround, Central will take on Simpson in a doubleheader on Tuesday starting at 3:30 p.m. in Indianola.

"It's just the Iowa Conference season," Schirm said."We'll starting getting a lot of games piled on here and we've just got to get through it."