The Central College softball team came up short in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Regional tournament yesterday falling 8-4 to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Simpson College in Indianola.

The 5th seeded Dutch jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a two run homerun by freshman Caitlin Meyer in the second inning but fourth seeded CMS erupted for a five run third inning as the first six batters of the inning reached base. Central fought back scoring two in the fourth to cut it to a one run game but CMS ended that momentum with a three run homerun in the bottom of the fourth then held the Dutch scoreless their next two at bats to secure the win.

Central drops to 30-13 overall and for the second straight year will have to battle through the losers bracket. Central will face eighth seeded Chicago, who lost to top seeded Linfield 13-5 in their opener, at noon today in an elimination game. The Dutch were eliminated from last year’s tournament in two games and are determined to better that this year.

You can hear today’s game live with Trevor Castle starting at noon on 92.1 FM KRLS and kniakrls.com. Due to the noon start time the Marion County Midday Magazine will air from 11am-noon today.