PELLA — Holding a 1-0 lead in the season series against Nebraska Wesleyan, the Central College baseball team took the series 2-1 after winning game one 8-6 Tuesday, however the team dropped game two 6-4 in 11 innings.

"I don't think the four runs we scored in the second game showed how well we actually played in that game, we hit the ball extremely hard," said coach Matt Schirm.

Central (18-16 overall, 10-8 Iowa Conference) traded runs with Nebraska Wesleyan in game one until a three-run seventh inning gave Central a 7-5 lead. The Dutch added another run in the eighth.

Freshman pitcher Ethan Weinandy (Lake In The Hills, Ill., Crystal Lake South HS) earned his first save of the season, throwing two innings, striking out four, giving up two hits and allowing one unearned run.

Junior Kyle Crampton (Omaha, Mount Michael HS) threw four innings in game two, allowing seven hits and giving up three runs in the loss.

"I thought our pitchers battled well today," said Schirm. "I told them they needed to limit the damage and they did that."

Iowa Conference Athlete of the Week, senior third baseman Zach Brown (Cedar Rapids, Xavier HS) continued to rake, going 4-for-8 including a double and an RBI. Brown extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

Senior center fielder Jacob Hirst (Davenport, Assumption HS) went 3-for-8 with two RBIs and senior right fielder Seth Griffiths (Ottumwa) went 2-for-8, scored a run and stole two bases. Griffiths leads the league with 28 stolen bags.

The Dutch continues play Friday with a three-game series against conference leader Wartburg College at Pella. First pitch Friday is 3 p.m. and Saturday's doubleheader begins at 1 p.m. Live stats and video are available at athletics.central.edu