Nationally ranked teams collide in pella - split the series
April 1, 2009
Nationally ranked #17 Luther traveled to #14 Central College this afternoon in a showdown that lived up to its billing. Central won game one 4-3 in 10 innings and the Norse won the nightcap 2-1.
In game one, Central took a 1-0 lead in the third and Luther tied the game with a run in the fifth. Neither team could muster a run until the tenth inning. Luther scored two runs on four hits in the top of the tenth, only to see Central respond with three runs on four hits in the bottom of the frame to secure the victory.
Tiffany Kruse, Danielle Armbruster and Lauran Snyder each drove in a run. Jackie Miller tallied two of Luther's seven hits going 2-for-5 at the plate.
BreAnn VanDeer went the distance allowing nine hits in 9 2/3 innings of work. She faced 38 batters, walked two and struck out two. The loss was her first of the season and she is now 7-1 with an era of 1.34.
Central, who enter the series with a 15-game win streak, had that streak snapped at 16 in game two, when Kelsey Hake drove in Kruse in the fifth inning for what proved to be the game winner. Luther also scored a run in the third when Armbruster drove in Snyder with a single to left field.
Central's lone run was a solo home run by Angela Davis off Norse starter Kim Lambert in the sixth. Lambert went the distance allowing just four hits, walked four and struck out eight, en route to her third win of the year. She is now 3-1 with an era of 1.38. This was Lambert's first action after suffering an injury during Luther's second game of its 10-game spring trip to Tucson, Arizona.
Four of Luther's 10 hits were provided by Anna Simonson and Kim Hess who were both 2-for-4. Kruse, Hake, Snyder, Armbruster, Abby Christian and Kayla Denner each had one hit.
The split gives the Norse an Iowa Conference record of 1-1, 14-2 overall. Central moves to 3-1 in the IIAC, 18-2 overall.
Luther will return to Iowa Conference play at home this Saturday when it will host the University of Dubuque at 2:00 p.m. Before Saturday's game they will play Grinnell College tomorrow in Grinnell. This non-conference double header will begin at 1:00 p.m.
