PELLA—A stumble turned into a steal and the Central College softball team pulled off a 1-0, 3-2 doubleheader sweep of the University of Dubuque Saturday.
           
Carson Fisk (sophomore, Searsboro, Lynnville-Sully HS), getting her first taste of collegiate action as an injury replacement, initially at third base and Saturday at shortstop, led off the sixth inning of a scoreless opener with a single deep in the hole at shortstop. She tripped getting her jump off of first base and when Dubuque catcher Cayla Cavanagh threw behind her at first base, she took off for second and slid in safely for a steal. She then advanced to third on a wild pitch and dashed home on a throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt for the game's only run.
           
"Carson recovered well," coach George Wares said of her tumble at first base. "She did the only thing she could and fortunately she was quick enough to beat the throw there."
           
The run was enough for pitcher Sydni Huisman (sophomore, Treynor), who completed the five-hit shutout in the seventh. She needed 127 pitches for the complete-game win, walking three and striking out nine.
           
Central (10-6 overall, 8-4 American Rivers) was held to five hits—three by freshman first baseman Megan Stuhr (Sigourney), who raised her average to .415, trailing only fellow freshman Franie Burnett (Ankeny, Centennial HS), the right fielder, who's hitting .419.
           
"They're playing as well as any two freshmen we've had in a while," Wares said. "They've given us a spark."
           
Fisk's aggressive baserunning atoned for Central's missed opportunity an inning earlier when Burnett rocketed a leadoff triple over the right fielder's head, but failed to score.
           
"To be able to come back from that, when you've been struggling and, all of a sudden, Burnett hits the triple and you think, OK, we're going to get at least one here and then not get anything, that's a little bit of a morale sinker," Wares said. "We responded well from that."
           
Fisk, filling in for injured shortstop Daria Parchert (senior, Illinois City, Ill., Rockridge HS), is making strides at the plate but also progressing defensively, as she made perhaps the decisive play in game two. After Central overcame a 2-0 deficit with a three-run outburst in the fourth inning, Dubuque (15-8 overall, 6-7 conference) was in position for the tie in the top of the fifth. Speedy leadoff hitter Kylee Biedermann used a leadoff walk, stolen base and fly ball to right field to reach third base with one out. A hard ground ball ticked off the glove of pitcher Morgan Schaben (sophomore, Portsmouth, Harlan HS) and caromed to Fisk at shortstop. She fired home where catcher Cassie Severson (sophomore, Ankeny, Centennial HS) made the sweep tag to preserve the lead.
           
"That was a really good play by her and Cassie," Wares said. "Carson threw a strike with no hesitation. Cassie is good, she came in and gave us some really big innings behind the plate."
           
Singles by left fielder Emma Johnson (sophomore, Davenport, Assumption HS) and  Stuhr started Central's three-run rally in the fourth. Two runs scored on an error and then Burnett and second baseman Lauren Birt (junior, Ankeny, Centennial HS) pulled off a double steal of home and second base.
           
Schaben threw 5.1 innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win. She allowed three hits and three walks while fanning three.
           
"She still got behind quite a bit but she was locating pretty well," Wares said. "That is the Morgan Schaben we need. When we get this from her, we're pretty good."
           
Huisman re-entered with one out in the sixth inning and recorded her first save after getting charged with two first-inning runs.
           
Sunday's final game of the series starts at 1 p.m. at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex softball field. A video stream and live stats can be accessed at athletics.central.edu.
           
Sunday's action finally winds up a brutal stretch of 11 games in eight days and an additional win would be big, Wares said.
           
"Not taking anything away from Simpson, but we felt like we let that first game (Wednesday's opener of a three-game series) get out of hand and now we want to make it up somewhere," he said. "This would be a great time to make it up."