Central shut down in baseball doubleheader
Central College
WAVERLY—The Central College baseball team struggled to find an answer for the Wartburg College offense as the Dutch fell 10-7 and 8-0 in an Iowa Conference doubleheader Saturday in Waverly.
Central was off to a promising start in the first game when a sacrifice fly from right fielder Jarred Lackey (senior, Somerton, Ariz., Cibola HS) drove in shortstop Mike Furlong (junior, Davenport, Assumption HS) in the first inning. But the Knights responded with two runs of their own.
The Dutch added a tally in the third inning before manufacturing two runs in the fourth. Catcher Josh Stanton (junior, Homer Glen, Ill., Lockport Township HS) doubled to left field and scored off a single from first baseman Seth Carson (sophomore, Woodridge, Ill., Downers Grove South HS), who scored off an error. Wartburg posted three runs in the fourth and held Central to just one tally in the fifth. The Knights broke things open with a four-run fifth inning to take a 9-5 lead.
After Wartburg scored again in the sixth, Central attempted a seventh-inning comeback but came up short with just two runs. Third baseman Anthony Miller (senior, Davenport, Assumption HS) singled and Lackey was hit by a pitch. Both scored on an error.
Junior Brett Bell (Jewell, South Hamilton HS) took his first loss of the season, giving up five hits and four runs throughout the fourth and fifth innings. Bell had one strikeout and one walk.
Central looked to bounce back in the nightcap. After a scoreless three innings of play, Central loaded the bases with just one out. But a strikeout and a ground out kept the Dutch at bay.
Wartburg crushed Central’s hopes of a win in the sixth inning when the Knight offense blasted six hits and capitalized on two Dutch errors to score eight runs.
Sophomore Ryan Goetzinger (Mason City) was charged with the loss, throwing 5.1 innings. Goetzinger (3-1) gave up seven hits, five runs, struck out one and walked three.
“Wartburg (10-11, 3-3 conference) is well coached and played really well,” coach Adam Stevens said. “We knew they were a good team and they certainly played better than we did this weekend. You’ve got to give them credit.”
Stevens looks to his seasoned squad to put the Wartburg series behind them.
“We’ve got a veteran team with a lot of good senior leadership, so I know we’ll bounce back,” Stevens said. “We have to move on. We can’t let one bad weekend ruin the season.”
Central (12-6, 3-3 conference) travels to Indianola Tuesday for a doubleheader against Simpson College. Simpson (12-5, 5-0 conference) enters the matchup off a three-game series sweep over Loras College.
“I told the team afterwards, every year, you’re going to have some adversity and it’s all about how you handle it,” Stevens said. “We’ve got to go back to work and get ready for Tuesday.”
