PELLA — In a back and forth contest, the Central College baseball team squeaked out an 8-7 Iowa Conference victory over Nebraska Wesleyan University Tuesday afternoon.
Central (11-15, 2-8 conference) trailed Nebraska Wesleyan (7-19, 3-12 conference) 6-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning before the Dutch rattled off four runs. The Prairie Wolves countered with a run in the top of the eighth, only to see the Dutch respond with the winning-run in the bottom half.
"We've found ourselves in a lot of games this year where we were trailing late and it was good to see our guys fight back and take the lead," said coach Matt Schirm. "They may have given us a few runs but sometimes you have to make your own luck and we did that by putting the ball in play."
Junior shortstop Garrett Saunders (Bonaparte, Van Buren HS) went 3-for-5 with a run scored and a double.
"Garrett's been so close to breaking out lately that it was only a matter of time," said Schirm. "He gets our offense going at the top of our lineup."
Sophomore backstop Trevor Kimm (Urbandale) scored two runs and had a pair of hits in five at-bats.
"The thing I like about Trevor is that he gives us consistent at-bats," said Schirm. "He's done a great job of not giving at-bats away."
Senior ace Dylan Diveney (Marshalltown) took the ball in a rare mid-week start, throwing six innings, allowing five runs, three earned, scattering seven hits, walking three and striking out five.
"Dylan didn't have his typical command today but it had been over a week since he had thrown so we needed to get him on the mound," said Schirm.
Sophomore Zach Edwards (Des Moines, Lincoln HS) entered the game in the eighth and finished out the contest, throwing two innings, allowing an unearned run, surrendering a hit and striking out four.
"I was really happy with how well Zach threw the ball today," said Schirm. "I have a ton of confidence with him coming in and finishing games and he was able to do it for us today."
Central continues league play Friday with the beginning of a three-game series against Simpson College. The series opener starts at 3 p.m. with the final two games starting at 1 p.m. Saturday. Live stats and a webcast will be available at athletics.central.edu.
