PELLA—Wartburg College pounced on some Central College softball miscues as the Dutch were swept 4-0 and 6-4 in American Rivers action Sunday.
Central (4-5 overall, 2-3 conference), which lacks experience at several key spots, at times looked like a squad that has played just five games since Feb. 27 while No. 17-rated Wartburg (19-4 overall, 10-3 conference) lived up to its ranking and strengthened its hold on the league lead.
The teams meet again Monday at 2 p.m. at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex softball field to complete the three-game series, with a junior varsity game to follow. A video stream and live stats can be accessed via the Central athletics website at athletics.central.edu.
The Dutch left themselves little room for error by going scoreless for the day's first 12 innings. Coach
George Wares was quick to credit Wartburg ace Ashley Nelson for some of the early offensive misery. Nelson (6-0) blanked the Dutch on two hits, walking three and striking out three.
"She's 6-0 and teams are hitting something like .198 against her," Wares said. "She just locates well and I thought they called a good game against us."
Sydni Huisman (sophomore, Treynor) pitched 5.1 innings sandwiched around 1.2 innings of relief from
Morgan Schaben (sophomore, Portsmouth, Harlan HS). Huisman gave up two earned runs on five hits and a walk with five strikeouts. Schaben allowed a run on two hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
Those two combined in the second game as well, alternating five times between designated player and pitcher. Huisman (3-4) was tagged with the loss in both games, giving up two earned runs in the nightcap on five hits with a walk and two strikeouts. Schaben gave up four runs but none were earned over 4.2 innings, with two hits, three walks and eight strikeouts against a hard-hitting Wartburg lineup.
"I thought our pitchers threw really, really well considering who they're throwing to, but they didn't field the ball well and that kept so much going," Wares said. "We gave them some extra outs."
However the Dutch showed offensive signs of life as the game wore on, loading the bases in the fifth inning and then scoring twice in both the sixth and seventh. Central closed the gap to 3-2 in the sixth before having a runner tagged out at the plate and nearly wriggled free of a bases-loaded seventh-inning jam before allowing four unearned runs to score that secured the win for Wartburg.
Center fielder
Sara Tallman (senior, Pella), as she has so often in her career, came up big. She had one of Central's two hits in the opener, then went 3-for-3 with a walk in the nightcap and stole two bases on the day.
"She's just good," Wares said. "You get to the point where it's hard to say anything more about her. She catches pretty much everything that's within range of her and she just has good at-bats. We had a few people who had good at-bats but she's clearly the leader and a catalyst for us."
Central also had two hits on the day from catcher
Madison Farrington (sophomore, Marshalltown, East Marshall HS) and first baseman
Megan Stuhr (freshman, Sigourney).
The Dutch had chances but Wares again credited Wartburg, which capitalized on opportunities while Central didn't.
"We were unlucky at times but sometimes you create your own bad luck," he said.
It's a challenging start to a season-defining week. After having its entire March schedule called off, the Dutch are slated for 11 games in eight days and a win against Wartburg Monday would provide a desperately needed boost.
"With the week we have ahead of us, just for some momentum or confidence or whatever word you want to use, that would be big," Wares said. "I think the ending of game two has to help us a little bit. But if they come back with Nelson (as starting pitcher), we've got to figure something out because we never really threatened much against her."
