Central baseball team splits a pair with Gustavus Adolphus
Central College
TUCSON, ARIZ. — It was a tale of two very different games for the Central College baseball team as the Dutch split a doubleheader against Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) Friday, winning the opener 5-1 and dropping the second game 10-7.
The Dutch (4-5) got a solid outing from starting pitcher Andy Carr (senior, Rockford, Ill., Lutheran HS) in the first game. He limited the Gusties (2-5) to just one run in six innings of work, before Austin Meyer (junior, Bondurant, Iowa, Bondurant-Farrar HS) closed the door in the seventh to seal the 5-1 win.
“Andy was a warrior on the mound,” coach Matt Schirm said. “He didn’t have his best stuff early, but he really settled in and pitched solidly into the seventh inning. Andy was fantastic today.”
Adam Lindell (junior, Denver, Colo., Arapahoe HS) packed a big punch at the plate in the first game. He connected on three extra base hits, including an RBI triple in the fourth inning.
“He was on fire,” Schirm said. “He really hit the ball well, hitting several balls to the fence. Even in the second game, he still hit the ball really hard. He was definitely our best offensive player today.”
The second game got away from the Dutch early. Gustavus Adolphus started the game off with an eight-run first inning to put Central in a big hole. The Dutch outplayed the Gusties the rest of the way, scoring seven runs over the last six innings. Freshmen pitchers Alex Dornacker (West Des Moines, Iowa, Valley HS) and Austin Chipps (Ankeny, Iowa, Centennial HS) combined to limit Gustavus to just two runs in those last six innings.
“If you take away the first inning, we win that game easily,” Schirm said. “We had a tough first inning, but it was really them having a good inning offensively. They hit the ball really well. I was really happy with the way we fought back, we definitely didn’t quit.”
Central will play one final game in Tucson tomorrow against Concordia (Wis.) at 11 a.m. CDT, before a long bus ride home to Pella.
“We’ve got a 24-hour bus ride after tomorrow’s game, which would definitely be easier after win,” Schirm said. “The most important thing is finishing with a win and getting back to .500 and then getting rested up to play Grinnell on Wednesday.”
