Beavers edge Central in baseball loss
Central College
STORM LAKE—The Central College baseball team continued its offensive burst Wednesday night, outhitting Buena Vista Univ. 12-10, but struggled in the field as the Dutch fell 9-7.
Central opened with a four-run first inning punch. Three straight singles from center fielder Sam Stetzel (sophomore, Perry), shortstop Mike Furlong (junior, Davenport, Assumption HS) and left fielder Caleb Rangel (senior, Rock Island, Ill., Alleman Catholic HS) scored Stetzel before third baseman Anthony Miller (senior, Davenport, Assumption HS) reached by a throwing error that scored Furlong. A groundout from right fielder Jarred Lackey (senior, Somerton, Ariz., Cibola HS) drove in Rangel and Miller crossed the plate on a wild pitch.
“We had a really good start off a good pitcher,” coach Adam Stevens said. “It was a good night offensively and we battled well at the plate.”
Lackey’s RBI puts him in first place on Central’s career runs batted in list with 131. He topped the previous mark of 130 set by Derek Knutson from 2006-09.
Buena Vista wasted no time responding, posting two runs in their half of the inning and tying the score at four after three innings. The Dutch added a run in the fourth before designated hitter Ryan Allison (senior, Rock Island, Ill.) drove in two runs with a single in the fifth. But Buena Vista scored two in the fourth and one in the sixth to knot things up 7-7. With the help of two Dutch walks, the Beavers delivered the game-winning runs in the seventh.
“Against a good team like Buena Vista (19-11, 10-6 conference) you can’t afford to give up freebies like we did tonight,” coach Stevens said. “We gave up too many walks on the mound and made too made mistakes on defense. We just didn’t get it done.”
Sophomore Michael Jontz (West Des Moines, Valley HS) threw the seventh inning and was charged with the loss. Sophomore Ryan Goetzinger (Mason City) started and gave up four runs on five hits, striking out three in three innings. Bret Bell (junior, Jewell, South Hamilton HS) tossed three innings, yielding three hits and three runs and Judson McKown (freshman, Maple Plain, Minn., Orono HS) threw the eighth, giving up one hit. The staff walked seven batters while the defense committed two errors.
Central (18-13, 8-8 conference) finishes the Iowa Conference set with Buena Vista Tuesday after hosting Cornell College (3-22, 1-16 conference) for a three-game weekend series beginning Friday at 3 p.m. at A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex. Central swept the Rams last season, racking up 44 runs in three games.
“We have to play well in all phases of the game,” coach Stevens said. “We’ll regroup after a busy couple of days and do better this weekend.”
A video webcast and live play-by-play will be available through the Central athletics website at www.central.edu/athletics.
