WAVERLY — For the first time since 2009, the Central College baseball team won a three-game series at Wartburg College after splitting a Saturday doubleheader with a 14-12 win and 11-10 loss.
The Dutch (9-11, 4-2 American Rivers Conference) also won the Friday night game 6-5 against the Knights (12-7, 3-4 conference).
In the first game, Central raced out to a 10-3 lead after tallying six runs in the top of the fourth. Wartburg put up three crooked numbers in a row to take as 12-11 lead after seven.
The Dutch tied it in the eighth after two errors aided right fielder Jaden Kramer (senior, Cedar Falls) to score. Bryer Wiley's (sophomore, second baseman Urbana, Center Point-Urbana HS) triple in the ninth inning set up Brayden Sawyer's (senior, third baseman, Grundy Center) game-winning RBI single. Sawyer also scored on a Max Steinlage sacrifice fly.
Turner Williams (junior, Newton) was the winning pitcher after working the final two innings, striking out four of the six batters he faced. Jackson Torbit (sophomore, St. Louis, Mo., Webster Groves HS) was the starting pitcher, throwing 5.0 innings and striking out five batters. He allowed seven earned runs on eight hits and three walks.
Game two was a wild affair with all 21 runs crossing the plate on a combined 10 home runs. Central trailed 9-4 entering the seventh before Sawyer and Dom DeLaPaz (fifth year, Davenport, West HS) each blasted three-run home runs to give the Dutch a 10-9 lead. Wartburg answered with a two-run home run to take the lead for good.
Reliever Bo Gerbracht (junior, Wellsburg, AGWSR HS was the losing pitcher after giving up the home run in the seventh. Wiley was Central's starter, throwing 6.0 innings and striking out four while allowing seven earned runs.
Central travels to Storm Lake for a 6 p.m. game against Buena Vista University on Tuesday.
