Caleb Rangel April 8, 2009

Central falls in 10 at Grinnell

GRINNELL—A wild pitch with two outs in the top of the ninth allowed left fielder Caleb Rangel (sophomore, Rock Island, Ill., Alleman HS) to score the tying run for Central College, but the Dutch were unable to pull out a victory falling 9-8 at Grinnell College Wednesday.

Rangel reached base on a walk after the top two batters in Central’s lineup were retired. A single from senior first baseman Derek Knutson (Richland, Wash., Yorkville (Ill.) HS) and an error by the center fielder allowed Rangel to reach third on the play before both runners moved up on the wild pitch.

After scoring the tying run Rangel took the mound for the Dutch in the ninth retiring the side in order. Central was retired in order in its half of the 10th, and took the field behind freshman Joel Pulliam (Des Moines, Lincoln HS) (1-1)on the mound with Rangel back in the outfield. After a single and sacrifice bunt, a double by Grinnell second baseman Chad Takabuki drove in pinch runner Michael Goldfien.

Central was out to an early 2-0 lead after the first inning but Grinnell (12-6) homered in its first two at bats off of Central starter Trevor Talbott (junior, Sioux City, East HS) to erase the deficit. Talbott  pitched 3.0 innings giving up seven runs on six hits while striking out five.

Junior Doug Eisenman (Grundy Center) took the mound in relief of Talbott giving up one run in 2.0 innings of work. Adam Squires (senior, Center Point, Center Point Urbana HS) and Rangel each pitched 2.0 inning as well.

Trailing 8-3 after four innings, the Dutch recorded four straight hits to start the fifth inning and put themselves right back in the game. Center fielder Ben Tressel (junior, Dubuque, Hempstead) singled and then scored on a home run by second baseman Mike Furlong (freshman, Davenport, Assumption HS). Rangel followed with a single before a Knutson double to center put runners on second and third with no outs. Right fielder Jarred Lackey (sophomore, Somerton, Ariz., Cibola HS) hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Rangel and Knutson would score on a wild pitch.

Furlong was 2-for-4 on the day with two runs and two batted in and Knutson was for 3-for-5 with one run. With his performance, Knutson moves into a tie for sixth place on Central’s career leader board with 152 career hits.

Central (10-12, 5-4 Iowa Conference) resumes league play on Friday with a 3 p.m. game against Dubuque at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex baseball field in Pella. The Dutch swept Dubuque in their three-game series last season and leads the all-time series 56-30.