Central softball finishes opening weekend 2-2

The Dutch will play next March 12

by Peter Leithauser

St. Louis, MO (03/03/2025) — Playing Calvin College and the University of Washington- St. Louis for the second straight day, the Central College softball team split the two games once again.

Unlike yesterday, The Dutch defeated No. 20 ranked Calvin 9-1 in six innings but fell to the University of Washington-St. Louis 5-3.

Against Calvin (3-1), the game was 1-1 going into the top of the sixth inning before Central exploded for eight runs. The team sent up 12 hitters to the plate in the inning and got RBIs from designated player Alexa Anderson (senior, Mount Ayr), left fielder Emma Jensen (senior, Earlham) and two from right fielder Mariah Parton (junior, Ankeny). Pitcher Emma Beck (junior, Holland, Grundy Center HS) tossed her second consecutive complete game allowing one run on seven hits and three strike outs across her six innings.

"It was an exceptional game," said coach George Wares. "We are adapting well to live pitching and in the seventh inning we had better at bats. Once we have people on base, we can use our speed to produce runs and that is what we did. Beck was sharp and hitting her spots."

Second base Haley Bach (senior, Council Bluffs, Lewis Central HS) recorded one hit and one RBI while also scoring the first run of the game. Anderson and Parton both collected two hits along with their RBIs.

Against Washington-St. Louis (5-1), Parton recorded an RBI in the second inning despite the Dutch being down early. The team attempted a comeback late in the game with Bach bringing in two runs in the fifth, but the Bears shut down Central for the rest of the game.

Pitcher Rylie Van Wyk came in relief and threw another 1.2 innings without allowing a run. Jadyn Huisman came in the seventh inning and also did not allow a run.

"We tried some different things in this game, and they worked well. Van Wyk gave us some good innings and our other pitchers were good as well." said Wares. "We don't like losing but to come out of these games 2-2 against high competition is a solid start."

The Dutch will not play Webster University tomorrow as that game has been cancelled. The team's next game will be March 12 when it starts the spring break trip against Hanover College in Louisville, Kentucky.

Alexa

Anderson