Central swipes eight in record-breaking win

Central College

CHANDLER, ARIZ.—The Central College baseball squad dominated the basepaths Wednesday, stealing a school-record eight bases en route to a 7-4 win over William Patterson University (N.J.).

The Dutch scored two in the opening frame and added another run in the second before the Pioneers tied it up in the fourth inning. Central added one run in the fifth and another in the sixth to take a permanent lead before adding two insurance runs in the eighth.

But the biggest story of the day was Central’s success on the basepaths. The Dutch were a perfect eight-for-eight in steal attempts, breaking the previous record of five, set against Buena Vista (April 22, 1998) and Simpson (April 8, 2000).

“Overall we had a few mishaps defensively but we put pressure on their defense and ran a lot,” said coach Adam Stevens. “That was the biggest factor in the game.”

Josh Stanton (junior, Homer Glen, Ill., Lockport Township HS) and Sam Stetzel (sophomore, Perry) led the Dutch offense with two RBIs apiece, while Jared Lackey (senior, Somerton, Ariz., Cibola HS) went 3-5 at the plate.

Sophomore hurler Michael Jontz (West Des Moines, Valley HS) earned the win, pitching six and one-third innings with four strikeouts, while Bret Bell (junior, Jewell, South Hampton HS) closed out the remainder of the game to get the save.

“Mike and Bret did a really good job throwing strikes today,” said Stevens. “We only had one walk.”

The Dutch improved to 7-2 on the season and 5-1 on their spring break trip while William Patterson dropped to 2-5-1. Central is scheduled for a match-up with Dickinson State (N.D.) tomorrow at 11 a.m. before taking on Marian (Wis.) at 2 p.m. Both starts are Mountain Time.

Central College 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 7 14 2

William Paterson (N.J.) 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 4 8 1

Leading hitters—C: Furlong 2×5, Lackey 3×5, Stanton 2×5, Stetzel 2×5, WP: Montanile 2×4. W—Jontz. L—Young. Sv—Bell.