Central baseball team swept in conference home opener

Central College

PELLA — On a blustery day in Pella, the Central College baseball team was swept by Dubuque Friday in its Iowa Conference home opener 3-1 and 14-6.

Coming off of a crucial sweep on the road at Simpson on Tuesday, coach Matt Schirm was hoping for more out of his team in its first Iowa Conference games at A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex.

“We just didn’t play good,” he said. “Those were disappointing losses.”

Central got a solid effort from its starting pitcher Dylan Diveney (freshman, Marshalltown) in game one. Diveney fired a career-high nine strikeouts, allowing just three runs on five hits, yet took the loss in a 3-1 game.

“Dylan did an awesome job,” Schirm said. “He did everything we needed him to do, we just didn’t hit.”

Central’s pitching staff struggled to find the strike zone in the second game, giving up seven walks and hitting three batters.

Despite pounding out 22 hits in the doubleheader, the Dutch only managed to score seven runs. In game two alone, Central outhit Dubuque 16 to 12 but still lost by eight runs.

Kirby Coppess (senior, Urbandale) led the Dutch at the plate in the second game, going 3-for-5 with three singles. He’s hitting .343 on the season, third-best on the Dutch roster.

“Kirby’s been really consistent at the plate all year long,” Schirm said. “We need more guys than just him, and a few of the other guys that have hit well, to perform offensively.”

Central will have a chance to even the series with the Spartans tomorrow, when the two teams meet up for another doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. in Pella.

College baseball
at Dubuque

Game 1

Dubuque 010 002 0—3 7 0

Central 000 000 1—1 6 1

Van Egtern and Doherty; Diveney, Meyer, and Frideres. W—Van Egtern (2-2); L—Diveney (1-3). Central 7-11, Dubuque 7-12