ST. PAUL, MINN.—A first-inning rally fizzled and so did the opening round of the St. Paul NCAA Division III softball regional Thursday for Central College, a 5-2 loser to Wis.-Oshkosh.

The 23rd-rated Dutch (27-11) must come back through the loser's bracket to advance out of the four-team, double-elimination tourney. Central plays at 1:30 p.m. Friday against the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (Minn.). The Eagles (25-15) were topped by the top-seeded host, the University of St. Thomas (Minn.), 9-1 in Thursday's second game. St. Thomas and Wis.-Oshkosh meet Friday at 11 a.m. The loser of that contest then meets the Northwestern-St. Paul and Central winner in a 4 p.m. elimination game. The tourney is slated to conclude Saturday, with the winner moving on to next weekend's super regional.
           
Central rapped out 10 hits but couldn't push a run across until the sixth inning. The Dutch were charged with one error on the day but it was the miscues that don't show up in the box score that were the most costly.
           
"Give credit to Wis.-Oshkosh, but with that said, that's probably the most disappointing loss we've had in post-season in quite some time," coach George Wares said. "I thought we had a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes both on the bases and defensively. We knew (the Titans) were going to score--they swing the bat extremely well. But we thought we could put up some runs against them."
           
The Titans (26-12), who won a regional title in La Crosse, Wisconsin a year ago, had 11 hits from eight players off pitcher Mariah Fritz (junior, Tama, East Marshall HS), with the biggest blow in the second inning, a two-out, two-run homer by shortstop Natalie Dudek, who had a career-high three RBIs on the day. Wis.-Oshkosh added two runs in the second and answered Central's run in the sixth.
           
Central left the bases loaded in the fourth inning and stranded eight runners on the day.

"It's not that the players aren't trying," Wares said. "We did some things well. But for whatever reason, our intensity level wasn't where it needed to be.  Right away in the first inning, we get runners on first and second and we do nothing after that. I'm disappointed in the way we played even more than the loss itself."

The Dutch did get some spark from the top of the order. Left fielder Tabitha Taylor (senior, Grimes, Dallas Center-Grimes HS) had three hits and a walk in four plate appearances, with one RBI. Right fielder Shaye Witte (sophomore, West Des Moines, Waukee HS) had two hits.

"Tabitha played well and I thought Shaye Witte gave us a spark," Wares said. "Tabitha had real good at-bats all day long. We had numerous opportunities, we just didn't get a key base hit when we had a chance to score more."

Catcher Emily Walton (senior, Cedar Rapids, Jefferson HS) singled and scored on a two-out single by shortstop Daria Parchert (freshman, Illinois City, Ill., Rockridge HS) in the sixth inning.

Central's other run came in the seventh when center fielder Sara Tallman (sophomore, Pella) singled, moved to second on a passed ball and raced home on Taylor's single to left field.

Fritz (12-8) gave up five runs on 11 hits and a walk over six innings with one strikeout.
           
The road back is long, but the Dutch know the way, Wares said.
           
"It's tough. You've got to win four games in two games against good teams. But it's doable. We've done it before but it's just a question of whether every one of our players believe that and are they going to go out and do everything they can do starting with the first pitch tomorrow.
           
Wares, who is in his record 29th NCAA tourney appearance with the Dutch, is simply grateful for the opportunity.
           
"It's kind of funny how athletics treats you," he said. "We lost to Luther in the Iowa Conference tournament last week and we left Cedar Rapids wondering whether we get to play again, and now we lose and we do get to play again. That's just the way it is. We wanted to get in (to the NCAA tournament) and we thought we had a resume to get in, and so now I think we need to show up in our next game and prove ourselves worthy of getting in."

Friday's game will be broadcast on KRLS-FM (92.1) with the Voice of the Dutch, Trevor Castle. The broadcast can be accessed at www.kniakrls.com.