Dayton Glasgow April 5, 2008

Central pitchers lead sweep over Ashford

PELLA—The Central College pitching staff held Ashford University to one run and surrendered one walk in a 6-1, 1-0 non-conference doubleheader baseball sweep Saturday.

“Our pitchers had a great weekend,” said coach Adam Stevens. “They were dominating the strike zone and really stepped up their game.”

In the first game, Central’s starter Dayton Glasgow (freshman, Burlington) threw a complete game, scattering seven hits, allowing one run, with eight strike outs and no walks.

Fellow freshman Kristofer Ozga (Hawthorn Woods, Ill., Stevenson HS) started the second game for Central (13-10), going five innings. He allowed no runs on two hits with six strike outs and surrendered one walk.

“We started two freshmen today,” Stevens said. “Both of them threw well and are really improving. It was nice to see them have success because they have been working really hard.”

Sophomore Doug Eisenman (Grundy Center) and junior Adam Squires (Center Point, Center Point-Urbana HS) finished off the second game, both going one inning. Eisenman allowed one hit in the sixth with Squires squandering two hits with a strike out in the seventh to record his third save of the season.

Kristofer OzgaCentral’s success on the pitching mound spilled over to the field as the Dutch did not record an error in the two games, and they have not had an error in five consecutive games.

“Sometimes baseball isn’t as complicated as we make it,” said Stevens. “Playing good defense and throwing strikes keeps you in games and those are both areas we’ve worked very hard on.”

While the pitching was superb, the Dutch received offensive output from multiple sources.

Senior Michael Edwards (Pella) continued his recent tear going 2-for-3 in the first game with two RBIs. In the second game, sophomore third baseman Ben Tressel (Dubuque, Hempstead HS) went 2-for-2 to raise his average to .358.

Central does not play again until Friday when the Dutch host Wartburg College in Pella in an Iowa Conference showdown at 3 p.m.

Stevens is excited about the layoff the Dutch have next week.

“We finally have the opportunity to catch our breath a little bit,” he said. “We have played so many games that it will be nice to finally practice before we get into conference again. We are excited to get back to work next week.”