Central scored four times in the bottom of the seventh inning, including on a walk-off wild pitch, to cap a six-run rally and win the opener of a Sunday softball doubleheader against St. Benedict of Minnesota, 7-6. The Dutch then run-ruled the Blazers in the nightcap, 9-1 in six innings.

Trailing 6-1 after four-and-a-half innings, Central chipped away by scoring twice in the bottom of the fifth, then struck for four in the seventh. The big blow was a Karly Olson two run double, and the game winner came when Sarah Bowen scored from third on a suicide squeeze play that resulted in a wild pitch.

After the Dutch completed the sweep, a relieved Coach George Wares talked about how big it was to win their first two games in Iowa.

“Those are quality wins. St. Bens came in 11-3 and I think they’re going to be a player up there (in the Minnesota league) – they’ve had some nice wins when they were in Florida. One thing we do, and we’ve done this historically, is we battle. I’m not going to sit here and say I know we were going to win when we were down 6-1, but we keep battling. Next thing you know we got three on the board and when (Abbie) Voas got the (leadoff) double, I felt pretty good we might make something happen in the seventh.”

Central improves to 15-3 on the season. The 22nd-ranked Dutch travel to Grinnell for a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon, then host #8 Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Saturday.