CEDAR RAPIDS — Pitcher Karly Olson (senior, Winterset) delivered the performance Central College needed to secure a road doubleheader split in a pivotal Iowa Conference softball doubleheader Saturday with an equally crucial twinbill on deck.

Olson (11-2) fired a four-hit shutout lifting No. 12-rated Central to a 2-0 victory at No. 11 Coe College Saturday before Coe erupted for a 10-2 five-inning win in the nightcap. That leaves Central at 25-5 overall and 7-1 in league play, with No. 5-rated Luther College coming to town. The Norse, who were idle Saturday, are 27-3 overall and 5-1 in the conference. Game time is 3 p.m. Tuesday at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex field.

Scoreless into the sixth inning of the opener, the Dutch broke through when shortstop Emily Wilson (sophomore, Bondurant, Bondurant-Farrar HS) singled and scored the go-ahead run on a hit by left fielder Tabitha Taylor (junior, Grimes, Dallas Center-Grimes HS). Wilson had two of Central's five hits in the game.

First baseman Abbie Voas (senior, Chanhassen, Minn.) provided some much-needed cushion when she doubled and scored in the seventh.

"I was really happy we kept scrapping away," coach George Wares said.

Olson walked one and struck out three in posting her fifth shutout of the season. She's allowed just one run—which was unearned—in her last 32 innings.
           
Central carried that momentum into the second game, where it quickly evaporated. The Dutch struck for a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning, using aggressive baserunning to pick up a pair of unearned runs.
           
But Coe (25-6 overall, 7-3 conference) tied the game in the bottom of the second, then used a pair of home runs to break it open. Mariah Fritz (sophomore, Tama, East Marshall HS) lasted 2.1 innings and absorbed the loss, yielding five runs on five hits with three walks and a strikeout in dropping to 10-4. Reliever Annie DeVries (junior, Eldridge, North Scott HS) surrendered five runs on five hits with two walks in 1.2 innings.
           
Central was limited to four hits, including a pair by rookie center fielder Sara Tallman (Pella).
           
"Obviously once you win the first one, you want to get the other," Wares said. "But you don't want to change your M.O. We need to beat the teams we're supposed to and if we split with the others we're OK."
           
Of more immediate concern was an early game injury to second baseman Paige Dickel (junior, Norwalk), which forced Taylor to move to her high school position in replacing her. The extent of the injury is unclear but Wares is hopeful she'll be back by Tuesday.

Dickel's injury is another reason Wares is grateful that the weather forecast—like most Iowa spring weather forecasts—missed the mark. Throughout the week, heavy rains were predicted for Saturday, which likely would have left the Dutch with a nasty back-to-back of No. 11 Coe Monday and No. 4 Luther Tuesday. With a twinbill at Loras College next Saturday, Central would have had six league games—more than a third of the conference slate--in six days.

"It's nice to get a couple of days' rest," Wares said. "The more you can stay on schedule, the better."

Wares was happy that his team's approach to Saturday's games did not differ from earlier contests, despite the potential conference title implications. He said it will be important to maintain that Tuesday as well.

"This team's been pretty good about that," he said. "They go about their business and worry about the result when it's over. We need to do the same thing Tuesday and the same thing when we go to Loras.

"What we've said is that no matter what happens, the most important league games for us will be the six that come after Coe and Luther."

Despite mustering just nine hits in the two games, the Dutch are still hitting a robust .349 for the season. Tallman leads with a .455 mark while Wilson is hitting .442. They've also drawn 11 and 10 bases on balls, respectively, giving Tallman a .509 on-base percentage and Wilson a .505 mark. Tallman has stolen 17 bases and scored 31 runs.