Central baseball squad drops a pair on the road

Central College

WAVERLY — The Central College baseball team was out hit on the road at Wartburg Saturday in losing both ends of an Iowa Conference doubleheader 14-3 and 11-8.

Central (5-9) was able to connect on 18 hits to score 11 runs, but the Knights (17-2) pounded out 24 hits for 25 runs. The Dutch aided the Knights with six errors, three in each game.

“We didn’t play nearly as today as we did yesterday,” coach Matt Schirm said. “We had a lot more mistakes defensively.”

Getting the start in game one, Dylan Diveney (freshman, Marshalltown) struck out seven in four innings of work, but allowed four walks and seven hits that the Knights turned into six runs.

“Dylan didn’t have his best stuff today,” Schirm said. “He battled and kept us in the game and within striking distance. His pitch count got high and we needed to take him out. We just couldn’t hold their offensive down.”

The Knights raced out to an 8-1 lead in the second game through four innings. Central mounted a comeback late in the game, scoring seven runs after the sixth inning to close the gap to 9-8. The Knights pushed two across in the bottom of the eighth to reach the final score.

“We got off to a rough start in the second game,” Schirm said. “We brought Mark Schroeder (junior, Chariton) into relieve and he did a good job. He held them check in for the most part. The guys really battled back and made a good run at it.”

Zach Brown (sophomore, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Xavier HS) continued his hot streak at the plate Saturday, going 2-for-2 in the opener and 2-for-5 in the nightcap. His .404 batting average is the best on the team.

“He’s got a knack for hitting the ball hard,” Schirm said. “ He goes up with a consistent approach each time. He swings at good pitches and hits the ball hard more times than not.”

Central will play another Iowa Conference doubleheader Tuesday night in Indianola against Simpson, first pitch at 3:30 p.m.

College baseball
at Waverly

Game 1

Central 000 010 3—3 7 3

Wartburg 400 235 0—14 14 0

Diveney, Chipps, Voss, and Frideres; Langheinrich, Lanfgritz and Wilson/Jenson. W—Langeinrich (3-0); L—Diveney (1-2). Central 5-8, Wartburg 16-2

Game 2

Central 010 001 420—8 11 3

Wartburg 420 201 02x—11 10 2

Meyer, Schroeder and Reuter; Chafa, Sorensen, Nadermann and Wilson. W—Chafa (4-0); L—Meyer (0-1). Central 5-9, Wartburg 17-2