Box Score COLUMBUS, GA.—And there it is again, Central College's late-inning softball magic.
           
Down three runs in the eighth inning, two in the ninth and one in the 10th, the No. 21-ranked Dutch (3-0) somehow kept coming up with answers and walked off a head-spinning 10-9, 10-inning victory away over DePauw University (Ind.) in an early opener for the NFCA Division III Leadoff Classic Thursday.
           
It was a two-out 10th-inning double rocketed to right-center field by freshman catcher Rylee Dunkin (freshman, Hamilton, Twin Cedars HS) that finally chased home first baseman Megan Stuhr (senior, Sigourney) for the game-winner.
             
The teams were originally slated to meet Friday, but a rainy Georgia forecast and a pair of withdrawals from the 24-team event prompted schedule changes, allowing the teams to sneak in a game before the rains are expected to arrive.
           
The 40-year NFCA Hall of Fame career of coach George Wares is littered with comeback victories and this one ranks with the most memorable, although as is often the case this early in the year, it wasn't without its missteps.
           
"The positive is just the way we kept battling, kept coming back and coming back," Wares said. "I told the players afterwards it goes in the NCAA book as a Central win and that's important."
           
DePauw (0-1) was coming off a 23-21 season in which it got an early 5-4 8-inning win over Central in Illinois.
           
This time the Tigers got a two-out RBI double to take the lead in the first inning. Dunkin tripled and scored to tie it in the second inning. Central grabbed a brief 2-1 lead on Dunkin's bloop single to short center field that brought third baseman Franie Burnett (senior, Ankeny, Centennial HS) racing home from second base. But DePauw unleashed back-to-back solo homers in the fifth inning for a 3-2 advantage.
           
Central's comeback flurry started in the bottom of the sixth when Burnett was hit by a pitch, stole her second base of the evening—and her eighth of the young season—then again dashed home on a single up the middle by Stuhr.
           
The international tiebreaker took effect in the eighth inning with each team starting with a runner on second base.                       
           
DePauw roped a run-scoring double over the outstretched glove of left fielder Megan Doty (5th-year, Grinnell) for the lead and the Tigers followed with a pair of insurance tallies to push it to 6-3, making Central's baserunner in the bottom of the frame less of a concern.
           
Or so it seemed.
           
Shortstop Carson Fisk (5th-year, Searsboro, Lynnville-Sully HS), the ninth-place hitter, punched a run scoring hit up the middle and Burnett bashed a two-run single to force an unlikely 6-6 tie.
           
"Honestly, the spark they showed picked all of us up," Wares said. "I know they picked me up because (DePauw scored three runs) and you thought, OK, wow. And then here they come. They just kept batting."
           
But the celebratory bubble quickly burst in the ninth as Central botched a rundown when the lead runner was caught between second and third base on a grounder. A flip trickled away and the run scored. Again, the Tigers tacked on an extra run to make it 8-6.
           
Back came Central. A clutch hit by designated player Mariah Parton (sophomore, Ankeny) brought home a run. She took second on the throw home and scored the tying run following a pair of force plays.
           
A single tally in the 10th gave DePauw its final advantage, 9-8. But by now, the Central theatrics were becoming routine. A Stuhr single got the tying run home. She'd already been lifted for a pinch-runner earlier in the game, so she was forced to stay in but legged out the next three bases on Dunkin's blow to finally end it, 3 hours and 15 minutes after the game started.
           
Dunkin had three hits and is quickly opening eyes at the dawn of her Central career.
           
"She swings the bat so confidently," Wares said. "She's one of those who can look bad and then come right back."
           
And almost forgotten after the late-inning fireworks was a defensive play by center fielder Emma Johnson (5th-year, Davenport, Assumption Catholic HS), who kept Central in the game by stealing a potential third DePauw home run in the seventh inning. She barreled into the temporary fence in left center to make the grab, hanging onto the ball as both she and the fence collapsed.
           
"It was an ESPN-like catch," Wares said. "She got a really good jump and just stayed with it."
           
Pitcher Emma Beck (sophomore, Holland, Grundy Center HS) started the game. Morgan Schaben (5th-year, Portsmouth, Harlan HS) relieved with one out in the sixth inning. She lasted until the ninth, when Beck returned and hung on to improve to 2-0. She pitched 6.2 innings, allowing three earned runs.
           
"DePauw's 4-5-6 hitters are really good and we didn't pitch them exceptionally well when they got the two home runs," Wares said. "I thought Morgan (Schaben) came in and did a nice job to kind of keep us where we were. Then Emma (Beck) came back and gave us a solid top of the 10th."
           
Friday's schedule was adjusted due to the weather. Central now takes on Roanoke College (Va.) Friday at 7 p.m. (Eastern Time). The Saturday and Sunday schedules are unchanged. An audio webcast of Friday's contest featuring Trevor Castle of KRLS-FM (92.1) can be accessed via kniakrls.com. Roanoke is coming off a 29-14 season and is off to a 2-0 start after a pair of wins over Pitt-Bradford (Pa.) Sunday.