Central Basketball Teams Swept in ARC Doubleheader at Wartburg
The Central College basketball teams traveled to Waverly Saturday afternoon and were swept by Wartburg in a doubleheader heard live on 92.1 KRLS. The Dutch women struggled offensively in an 83-45 loss in the opener, while the men’s team saw a narrow halftime lead slip in a 70-63 defeat.
The Central women (10-13, 5-9 ARC) shot just 28.3% from the field, making only 17 shots in 60 attempts, while Wartburg (18-6, 14-1 ARC) connected on half of the shots they attempted (35-70). Senior Bailey Reding was the high scorer for Central with 12 points, and also led the way with five rebounds. Emily Naughton and McKenzie Snook also had five boards. Jasmyn Williams and Jadyn Filling had six points apiece.
The Central men (12-11, 5-9 ARC) went into halftime with a 32-29 advantage, but Wartburg (13-11, 5-10 ARC) roared into the second half with 22 points in the first 10 minutes while holding Central to nine. Trailing by 20 with 5:34 remaining, Central closed on a 17-4 run to pull within seven with under a minute remaining, but ultimately fell short. Boaz Clark came off the bench and hit a trio of 3-pointers in that stretch. Anthony Gott had 15 points, seven boards and five blocks, while Kyle Cason had 19 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Central hosts Coe College in an American Rivers Conference doubleheader at 5:30 pm on Wednesday.
Dutch Take Two Neutral-Site Softball Victories
Getting an early start to the season, the Central College softball team defeated St. Catherine University (Minn.) 5-3 and Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) 8-3 on Saturday.
Playing at the Bethany Lutheran Invitational inside the Mankato Dome in Minnesota, Central (2-0) took four innings to score but woke up in a big way in the bottom of the fifth in the opener against St. Catherine. Katelyn McCallum’s pinch-hit single drove in a pair of runs to start the scoring. Jadyn Huisman followed with an RBI single before Sarah Stufflebeam closed out the five-running inning with a two-RBI double. All five of Central’s runs were scored in the fifth inning. Huisman was the winning pitcher, working all seven innings with three earned runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out three.
Leadoff hitter Rylee Dunkin was 2-for-3 in the second game, scoring twice and driving in two runs. She reached base two other times via walk. Stufflebeam added a second double while Huisman had two more hits. Ella Morse was the winning pitcher working 3.2 scoreless innings of relief. She allowed just one hit and two walks while facing 15 batters.
Central is scheduled to have its home opener on Friday, March 6th at 2 p.m. in a doubleheader against Westminster College (Mo.).
Another Massive Meet for Central’s Meyer
Cracking the top 10 nationally in two events at the Darren Young Classic Saturday hosted by Grinnell College, Central College men’s track and field senior Gunner Meyer was strong in the 60-meter hurdles and high jump. There were no team scores kept at any of the three meets the Dutch competed in over the weekend.
Grant Miller won the 60-meter hurdles race at Grinnell in 8.26 seconds but Meyer ran the fastest time in the prelims at 7.90 seconds, the second-fastest mark in Division III this season. Meyer shared the high jump title with Lance Bunde after clearing 6 feet, 8.75 inches. He’s No. 2 in the 60-meter hurdles and tied for No. 8 in the high jump. The Dutch swept the pole vault at the Darren Young Classic, as Kyle Rogers won the men’s event at 14-9 and Leah Howard won the women’s event at 10-10.
At the David Hemery Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University, Jack Brown clocked the men’s mile in 4 minutes, 4.21 seconds, finishing 58th in one of the most competitive collegiate indoor meets. He moved up to No. 6 nationally. Peyton Steffen finished the women’s 3,000 meters 79th overall in 9:36.26, a top five time in Division III.
Securing a third mark on the top 50 list, Ava Parkins finished 17th in the 200-meter dash at the Blue Demon Alumni Classic hosted by DePaul University (Ill.) in 25.16 seconds. She’s now No. 33 nationally in the event. She also has a top 50 time in the 60-meter and 400-meter dashes.
Central will send most of its athletes to the Liz Wuertz Invitational hosted by Wartburg College next Saturday. The distance medley relay teams are entered in the Caged Eagle Open hosted by the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse.
Opening Day Split for Central Baseball Squad
Making its earliest season debut in program history Sunday, the Central College baseball team started the season with an 8-4 loss against Augustana University (Ill.) before taking a 16-6 win over Grinnell College
Leading 9-6 going into the bottom of the seventh, Central (1-1) tagged Grinnell (0-2) for seven runs and ended the game early by run-rule. Brayden Sawyer had a monster game at the plate, going 4-for-5 with three doubles and five RBIs. Jaden Kramer also had three hits and three RBIs. Turner Williams was the winning pitcher, throwing three scoreless innings of relief with three strikeouts. Bryer Wiley recorded the save after striking out all three batters he faced in the top of the seventh.
Cameron Moreno suffered the pitching loss in the opener against Augustana (2-0), allowing five earned runs in a big fifth inning for the Vikings. Bryce Haessig had four strikeouts while facing 11 batters in 2.2 innings of relief work. Wiley and Sawer each had two hits in the opener. Max Steinlage drove in two runs, including a solo shot in the first inning of the first game, and had a second home run against Grinnell.
The Dutch have a three-game weekend series against Hardin-Simmons University (Texas) starting at 6 p.m. on Friday in Abilene, Texas.