Softball Hangs Tough with Sixth-Ranked Central

The Buena Vista softball team, playing its final home games of the season on Tuesday afternoon, hosted sixth-ranked Central College in a doubleheader and would lose a pair of tough contest, 4-0 and 4-2 (10 innings).

The Dutch, who out-hit BVU 13-2 in the opener, got a run in the first and two more in the third of the opener to go in front 3-0.  They then added the final run in the fourth.  Of the 13 hits, however, only one went for extra bases.

Brooke Berkey (Colfax, Iowa/Colfax-Mongo) recorded one of the two Beavers hits in the contest to lead off the home half of the first, while Jordon Pilcher (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Geroge Washington) singled with two outs in the sixth.

Chancey Wilcke (Battle Creek, Iowa/BC-IG), pitching in her final career home games, went the distance for BVU and suffered the loss.

Wilcke then turned around and held Central to only one base runner and no hits through the first four innings of game two.  The Beavers, meanwhile, had a hit and left a runner on base in three of the first four frames.

The Dutch broke the scoreless game in the fifth with back-to-back singles and an RBI groundout. 

The Beavers put together a two-out rally in the sixth to tie things up and nearly took the lead.  Sam Engleman (Hawarden, Iowa/West Sioux) tripled off the right field fence and then scored on an RBI single to right center by Stephanie Hayden (Prairie City, Iowa/PCM).  After a Wilcke walk, she then stole third but was stranded there.

The Dutch got the lead-off batter on in the seventh, but that was erased when the Beavers turned one of their two double plays in the contest.  Wilcke then got the final out on a pop up to short.

Central again had the lead-off batter on in the eight, but stranded her at second.  The Beavers turned around in the bottom of the frame and got runners at first and second with only one out, but then popped into a double play to end the inning.

After both teams were held scoreless again in the ninth, Central then scored three runs on three hits in the 10^th for a 4-1 lead.

BVU, however, wasn’t about to go away.  Berkey singled with one out and then advanced to third on a single by Jessica Stocker (Des Moines, Iowa/Carlisle) to right center field.  Engleman was then hit by a pitch to load the bases.  Hayden then sent a grounder into the hole at short which was fielded by the shortstop who tagged Stocker out.  Berkey, however, scored to make it 4-2.  Wilcke, who had a walk-off home run earlier this year, nearly did it for the second time, but her fly ball was caught about a step from the wall in deep left for the game’s final out.

Hayden finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored, while Engleman also finished with two hits. 

Wilcke again went the distance, allowing just one earned run on eight hits.

Buena Vista sits at 16-14 overall and 6-8 in the Iowa Conference.  The team is currently in a three-way tie for sixth heading into its regular season finale at Simpson College on Saturday beginning at 4:00pm.

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