COLUMBUS, GA.—One inning changed the tone of not only a game but a weekend as the Central College softball team rebounded from a bruising day Friday to overpower Manhattanville College (N.Y.) 11-2 in six innings, then fought to the finish against No. 8-ranked Salisbury University (Md.) before sustaining a 7-5 loss Saturday.
           
The Dutch had not only dropped their two opening games in the NFCA Division III Leadoff Classic Friday, they lost pitching ace Sydni Huisman (junior, Treynor) to a possible season-ending injury moments before the season's first pitch. The squad was forced to reinvent itself on the fly.
           
Trailing 2-1 through three innings against Manhattanville Saturday, the storyline took a sudden turn. Central erupted for eight runs on seven hits—several of which never left the infield--to take command in the fourth. Catcher Madison Farrington (junior, Marshalltown, East Marshall HS), second baseman Lauren Birt (senior, Ankeny, Centennial HS), designated player Emma Jensen (freshman, Earlham), third baseman Carson Fisk (junior, Searsboro, Lynnville-Sully HS), center fielder Emma Johnson (junior, Davenport, Assumption HS) and first baseman Megan Stuhr (sophomore, Sigourney) all had run-scoring hits. Stuhr added an RBI hit in a two-run sixth inning that ended it early.
           
Coach George Wares said the team improved its big-picture outlook by focusing more narrowly.
           
"We got down 2-0 and when the players came in, we said, 'Hey, we're not trying to win a game here, we're trying to win a half inning.' And that's kind of how we approached it. And the next thing you know we got it going with that inning."
           
Second baseman Haley Bach (freshman, Council Bluffs, Lewis Central HS) drew four straight walks in the game, tying Katie Tenboer's 2011 school record. Bach added a fifth base on balls in her first plate appearance against Salisbury.
           
Freshman pitcher Chloe Dougherty (Alleman, North Polk HS), who likely anticipated limited duty on the trip, instead went the distance to post her first collegiate victory after starting the weekend as the team's No. 4 hurler. She gave up seven hits but just one earned run with three walks and a strikeout.
           
"We saw enough from Chloe yesterday that we decided we're going to give her the ball and she pitched well," Wares said.
           
"She's got good velocity, her change up was working well and she's got a legitimate rise ball."
           
Salisbury (13-1) opened some eyes by sweeping defending champion Virginia Wesleyan University Feb. 19, but the Dutch jumped on top Saturday with three runs without a hit in the first inning, relying on their small-ball attack. Central stole three bases in the rally, capped by a daring theft of home by Burnett. The Dutch had nine steals on the day.
           
"We're executing the speed and short game as well as any team I've ever coached," Wares said.
           
The lead vanished in an instant as Salisbury used a two-run homer as part of a three-run second inning to tie it. But pitcher Morgan Schaben (junior, Portsmouth, Harlan HS) held the Sea Gulls in check until the sixth inning when Salisbury took its first lead at 5-3, then added two runs in the seventh to seemingly put the game out of reach.
           
Yet the Dutch came clawing back yet again, using two hits and three uncharacteristic Salisbury errors to cut the margin to 7-5 before stranding the bases loaded.
           
Schaben (0-2) allowed five earned runs on 12 hits with seven walks and five strikeouts. Emma Neu (sophomore, Rochelle Park, N.J., Hackensack HS) got the final two outs of the seventh inning.
           
Central had six hits, three by Johnson and two by designated player Emma Jensen (freshman, Earlham). Johnson had five hits on the day while Stuhr had four RBIs.
           
"I'm impressed with how we've bounced back," Wares said. "Our dugout is into it—there's some togetherness happening and Sydni (Huisman) is a big part of that. She's in the dugout, she's in the bullpen talking to the pitchers. She's invested."
           
Central completes play in the three-day tourney Sunday, but not before tackling defending Division III champion Virginia Wesleyan University, ranked No. 2 in the NFCA preseason coaches' poll, at 1:30 p.m. (ET) before taking on Emory University (Ga.) at 3:30 p.m. (ET). Virginia Wesleyan is 7-3 and 3-1 on the weekend while Emory is 4-4 overall and 2-2 in Georgia.
           
Broadcasts/webcasts--Audio webcasts of Sunday's games with KRLS radio sports director Trevor Castle can be accessed through kniakrls.com. The direct link is rdo.to/KRLS3. A video stream will be available at https://watch.yourgamecam.com/. Viewers should choose "Softball," "Facility," "South Commons" and the field number under "Channel."