Central drops first baseball game in Florida

AUBURNDALE, FLA. — The Central College baseball team was outslugged by Illinois Wesleyan University Sunday afternoon, falling 11-3 in the first game of its spring break trip to Florida.

The Titans (4-5) pounded 16 hits compared to seven for the Dutch (1-2).

“Their offense is elite,” coach Casey Klunder said. “They don’t strike out and they put a ton of pressure on your defense.”

Starting pitcher Marcus Wenzel (fifth year, Chicago, Ill., Luther College North Prep) took the loss after giving up one earned run on six hits in 4.0 innings. He did strike out six Titan batters, walking just one. Sam Staley (junior, Cedar Rapids, Jefferson HS), Keghan West (sophomore, Perry), and Jason Black (freshman, Tucson, Ariz., Cienega HS) tossed the final four frames.

“Marcus kept them in check for a long time,” Klunder said. “I like the way our pitchers battled.”

Pinch hitters Chase Martin (freshman, Port St. Lucie, Fla., John Carroll HS), Kyler Watson (freshman, Huxley, Ballard HS) and Dom DeLaPaz (freshman, Davenport, West HS) contributed to a three-run eighth inning. Watson had an RBI double and Martin scored on DeLaPaz’s RBI groundout.

“I liked the way some of our substitutes got in and played with aggressiveness,” Klunder said. “They were ready when their number was called.”
As a team, Central struck out 13 times and stranded 11 runners.

“The way our offense is going to have to operate in order to be successful can’t include double-digit strikeouts,” Klunder said. “We’re not going to hit with enough pop to justify that. We need to put more pressure on teams and hit more up and down the lineup.”

The Dutch are back on the diamond Monday morning at 9 a.m. (EST) in Winter Haven, Florida. In a schedule change, Central will play Curry College (Mass.) in its first game followed by a noon game against the State University of New York – Polytechnic.

“We’re excited to be out here playing some baseball and enjoying the nice weather,” Klunder said.