CEDAR RAPIDS—In the lineup for her arm, pitcher Sydni Huisman (sophomore, Treynor) pounded her first collegiate base hit in well-timed fashion as her two-out, eighth-inning single brought home the winner in Central College's 6-5 softball victory at Coe College Tuesday.
           
The Dutch (6-5 overall, 4-3 American Rivers) were trailing in the nightcap, 5-3 after six innings, when the game was called due to darkness as the first game lasted nearly 3 hours. The second game will resume when Central returns to Coe (13-7 overall, 8-4 conference) for an additional contest April 27.
           
More concerning, however, was a serious injury to all-conference shortstop Daria Parchert (senior, Illinois City, Ill., Rockridge HS). She collided with a Coe baserunner in the bottom of the sixth inning. Parchert is sidelined indefinitely.
           
"You feel so badly for her," coach George Wares said. "She's gone through so much."
           
Central trailed throughout much of the opener as Coe used three hits and a costly error for a 3-0 second-inning lead. Central tied it in the third inning as first baseman Megan Stuhr (freshman, Sigourney) and right fielder Franie Burnett (freshman, Ankeny, Centennial HS) had RBI hits, but Coe added single tallies in the fourth and fifth innings. The Dutch forced extra innings with a two-run sixth inning highlighted by a run-scoring single by left fielder Emma Johnson (sophomore, Davenport, Assumption HS).
           
Central appeared to have missed its chance in the eighth inning when Burnett was thrown out at the plate after a double by second baseman Lauren Birt (junior, Ankeny, Centennial HS). But Birt stole third and Huisman, who again alternated in the pitching circle throughout the game with Morgan Schaben (sophomore, Portsmouth), bounced a single into left field to take a 6-5 lead.
           
"She had a couple of good at-bats," Wares said. "She had a sacrifice fly earlier. Her hit wasn't a fluke. It was a pretty good shot. And I think that really helped give her some confidence when she went back in to pitch."
          
Huisman secured the win in the bottom of the frame. She improved to 5-4 after throwing 6.2 innings, giving up two earned runs on nine hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.
           
"We had a couple of defensive lapses early and we had a couple of people thrown out at the plate, which wasn't their fault, I was just being aggressive," Wares said. "But we really battled."
           
Huisman appeared briefly in the nightcap before giving way to Schaben, who threw 2.2 innings, allowing three hits and two earned runs while walking three and striking out one. The Dutch also got 2.1 innings of one-hit relief from Skylar Sadler (sophomore, Lisbon).
           
"Skylar threw really well," Wares said.
           
After falling behind 1-0, the Dutch got Burnett's first collegiate home run in the second inning. Coe took command with a third-inning grand slam but Central sliced the deficit to two on a 2-run single by center fielder Sara Tallman (senior, Pella).
           
Statistics from the suspended game will not be included in season statistics until after it is completed.
                
Central was already without injured third baseman Paige Roehlk (senior, Davenport, West HS) but Wares got good news on her as she's expected back soon. But the Dutch will have to find a new shortstop as they continue their 11-game, eight-day endurance test by next traveling to Indianola for a doubleheader with Simpson College Wednesday at 3 p.m., with another game there Thursday at 5 p.m. Simpson is 7-11 overall and 5-7 in the league.
           
"We knew this was going to be a challenge," Wares said. "But these players have stepped up all year."