Central drops two on the road in baseball

Central College

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Central College baseball team struggled to produce runs in dropping a pair of Iowa Conference games Friday afternoon at Coe, losing game one 3-2 and falling in game two 7-3.

The offensive surge the Dutch (11-16, 7-9 conference) had last weekend in winning 3-of-4 against Buena Vista was nowhere to be found against the Kohawks (20-9, 12-8 conference). Central struck for 15 hits in the doubleheader, but only scored five runs and left 17 runners on base.

“We pitched and played defense pretty well,” coach Matt Schirm said. “We didn’t hit the ball well at all today, five runs in sixteen innings is not enough. Our offense needs to step it up tomorrow.”

Central’s offensive droughts seem to be magnified when the team is on the road. In their last eight road games, the Dutch are averaging just 3.13 runs a game and hitting. 240. In contrast, Central has scored 5.1 runs per game in its last nine home games while hitting .309.

Zach Zylstra (senior, Pella, Iowa, Pella Christian HS) continues to be the bright spot for the Dutch offense. He went 4-for-9 Friday with an RBI single in the seventh inning of game two. Zylstra also hit his team-leading 10th double of the year in game one.

“I like to hit our most consistent hitter in the No. 2 spot and Zach’s been that all year,” Schirm said. “Zach and Kirby Coppess (senior, Urbandale) have been really consistent all year. Having those guys on base all the time is huge. We just need some guys behind them to step and drive them in.”

Getting the start in game one, Andy Carr (senior, Rockford, Ill., Rockford Lutheran HS) allowed just three runs in the first game on eight hits. He held Coe in check much of the game before taking the loss on a bases-loaded wild pitch in the seventh inning. Game two starter Dakotah Wolken (junior, Dillon, Iowa, East Marshall HS) struck out seven, walking one Kohawk batter. He allowed just three runs in seven innings of work, before being replaced by Mark Schroeder (junior, Chariton) who took the loss after Coe’s four-run eighth inning.

“They both pitched well enough to win, and deserved to win,” Schirm said. “Unfortuantely, we couldn’t score enough runs to support them.”

The Dutch have a chance to salvage a series split tomorrow with a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. from Daniels Park in Cedar Rapids.

College baseball
at Cedar Rapids

Game 1

Central 000 010 1—2 8 0

Coe 000 020 1—3 8 2

Carr and Reuter; Reuter, Becker and Henning. W—Becker (1-0); L—Carr (3-1). Central 11-15 (7-8), Cope 17-7 (7-6)

Game 2

Central 001 001 100—3 7 1

Coe 100 100 140—7 10 2

Wolken, Schroeder, and Reuter; Alberhasky, Hoffman and Henning W—Hoffman (6-1); L—Schroeder (1-1). Central 11-16 (7-9), Coe 17-8 (7-7)