PELLA — It was a pair of low-scoring affairs but Coe College swept a Friday afternoon baseball doubleheader against Central College with 4-0, 6-2 wins.
Coe (12-4, 2-1 American Rivers Conference) spoiled the first home games for Central (10-7, 2-3 conference).
"Looking at both games it was a matter of timely hitting and taking advantage of free bases when they're given," coach Adam Carey said. "Coe did a better job of it in both games. We need to clean up some of our mistakes, whether it's getting ahead in pitch counts or putting too many runners on for free bases."
In the second game, Central punched across two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Left fielder Dylan Williams (junior, Woods Cross, Utah) jump started the offense with a double and was driven in by a Jaden Kramer (junior, right field, Cedar Falls) single. Kramer would also come around to score on a Max Steinlage (junior, center field, Cedar Falls) single.
Shortstop Garrett Guenther's (sophomore, Grayslake, Ill., Central HS) two singles made him the only Dutch player with multiple hits on the day.
"He saw the ball well today," "He squared a couple up and put good at-bats together."
Mark Kenney (junior, Fennimore, Wis.) went 6.2 innings on the mound in game two, giving up four earned runs. He had five strikeouts and four walks while giving up five hits. He was done in by a bases loaded double with two outs in the seventh inning.
"He got to two strikes and threw a pretty good pitch, but they put a good swing on it and put the ball in the gap," Carey said. "But you look at the source of the base runners, it was free bags in some way, shape or form. We must do a better of job of minimizing those situations and preventing them by getting ahead in counts."
Jackson Torbit (sophomore, St. Louis, Mo., Webster Groves HS) piled up nine strikeouts as Central's starting pitcher in game one. He yielded just two earned runs in his seven innings of work but was hampered by four walks and a hit batsman.
"I was happy with the way he competed," Carey said. "He really settled in and threw great after those free bags early in the game."
Central's offense in the first game was limited to a single by first baseman David DiStefano (freshman, Janesville, Wis., Craig HS) in the third inning.
"We put some good at-bats together and squared some balls up, they just didn't fall," Carey said.
The two teams will attempt to complete the three-game series with a single nine-inning game set for 1 p.m. Saturday.
