Knutson swing May 1, 2009

Dutch keep tourney hopes alive

WAVERLY—First baseman Derek Knutson (senior, Richland, Wash., Yorkville, Ill. HS) belted two home runs as the Central College baseball team erupted for seven runs in the final three innings to keep its Iowa Conference tourney berth hopes alive by knocking off Wartburg College 14-5. Central, 16-19 overall, is 9-11 in league play and stands seventh in the league. To qualify for the six-team conference tourney, the Dutch will need to catch Simpson College, which is 10-12 in the league after a 9-2 victory at Buena Vista Univ. Friday. While Central is a game behind, the Dutch hold the tiebreaker over Simpson after winning two of three games with the Storm earlier in the season. Central and Wartburg close the regular season Saturday with a 1 p.m. twinbill in Waverly.

“We can’t worry too much about what other teams are doing,” coach Adam Stevens said. “We’ve just got to put together a good game one and then worry about game two after that.”

Knutson drove in five runs Friday as the Dutch racked up 19 hits but also turned three double plays.

“We made some big defensive plays,” Stevens said.

Central appeared to be in trouble early, trailing the defending league champs 4-0 after three innings.

But Stevens found a glimmer of hope in the first inning after Wartburg loaded the bases with no outs. The Knights scored twice but the Dutch averted a disastrous start.

“That kept us in the game and that ended up being really important,” he said.

Central climbed back into it with three runs in the fourth. Shortstop Mike Furlong (freshman, Davenport, Assumption HS), who scored three runs on the night, had an RBI single and designated hitter Ben Chestnut (freshman, Bettendorf) had a two-run hit.

Central finally tied the game at 4-4 with a sixth-inning RBI single by second baseman Dave Lakin (sophomore, Clinton), who had three hits.

The Dutch broke it open with five runs on six hits in the seventh inning. Right fielder Jarred Lackey (sophomore, Somerton, Ariz., Cibola HS), who also had three hits on the night, as did catcher Josh Stanton (freshman, Homer Glen, Ill., Lockport Township HS), singled home a run and another run scored on a double play. Knutson kept it going with a solo homer, Lakin had another RBI hit and center fielder Ben Tressel (junior, Dubuque) had an RBI hit.

Knutson lined a three-run homer in the eighth, giving him a team-high six for the year.

“Derek really played like a senior should,” Stevens said. “He’s swinging it really well right now.”

Furlong tripled home a run in the ninth inning and another scored on Knutson’s force out.

Corey Eisenman (freshman, Bloomingdale, Ill., Driscoll Catholic HS) improved to 4-2 by going seven innings. He scattered 11 hits, yielding five runs with four balls and two walks. Doug Eisenman (junior, Grundy Center) and Trevor Talbott (junior, Sioux City, East HS) each tossed a scoreless inning of relief.

“When you have a big lead you just want them to come in there and throw strikes, and that’s what they did,” Stevens said.

“We had a lot of two-out RBIs and good defense. Hopefully we’ll get that tomorrow as well.”