Central softball streak ends at 11
TUCSON, ARIZ.—No. 23-rated Central College extended its softball win streak to 11 games with a 9-1, five-inning victory over RIT (N.Y.) before suffering an eight-inning 9-8 loss to Dickinson College (Pa.) Thursday at the Tucson Invitational Games.
Chloe Dougherty (sophomore, Alleman, North Polk HS) made her first start of the season in the and got the win over RIT (0-9). She allowed a run in four innings on five hits with no walks and a strikeout. Carlin Smith (freshman, Orange City, MOC-Floyd Valley) made her collegiate pitching debut with a perfect sixth inning.
“Chloe went four innings pretty comfortably,” coach George Wares said. “And Carlin Smith had a good inning.”
Central (12-2) had 11 hits, including two from second baseman Haley Bach (sophomore, Council Bluffs, Lewis Central HS) and from right fielder Emma Jensen (sophomore, Earlham). The Dutch put the game away with a six-run fifth inning.
But Wares saw little he liked in the nightcap. Central took a 7-2 lead in the third inning and appeared to have the game in hand, but it unraveled in the fifth as Dickinson (6-6) struck for four runs and took the lead with two in the sixth. Emma Beck (freshman, Holland, Grundy Center HS) yielded five runs on five hits with three walks despite striking out nine. Smith was nicked for a run in a third of an inning and Morgan Schaben (senior, Portsmouth, Harlan HS) gave up three runs on two hits with three strikeouts in 2.2 innings.
The international tiebreaker rule was employed in the eighth inning and the Dutch went with ace Sydni Huisman (senior, Treynor). After sacrificing the runner to third base, Dickinson’s Emily Whelan singled to right field for the eventual winning run. Central had the potential tying run cut down at the plate when shortstop Hannah Higgins (freshman, Macomb, Ill.) tried to score on a one-out grounder.
“No disrespect to Dickinson, they deserved to win, but we just didn’t play well,” Wares said. “We didn’t play well all day. We may have been a little tired after an emotional game (Wednesday against No. 16 Concordia of Wisconsin), but as coaches and players, we didn’t handle it well.”
While Central wasn’t charged with any errors on the day, the Dutch had plenty of miscues, Wares said.
“We made some poor decisions on where to go with the ball and we didn’t pitch well,” he said. “At the plate, we didn’t get some bunts down and swung at a lot of bad pitches.”
Catcher Madison Farrington (senior, Marshalltown, East Marshall HS), who was rested in the opener, had two hits against Dickinson.
“Madison’s been really good,” Wares said. “She had a big RBI single and has been very consistent.”
Central also got two hits from first baseman Megan Stuhr (junior, Sigourney) but the Dutch had just six hits overall.
The Dutch close their 12-game Arizona trip Friday with a doubleheader against Concordia. Central won a rain-shortened five-inning game against the Falcons Wednesday, 2-1, which left them eager for the rematch.
“On a long trip like this, sometimes you have a day when it catches up to you, but we’ve got to bounce back,” Wares said. “This will probably be our most difficult day of the trip.”
