CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Coe College softball team lost the opening game of a doubleheader with Central 6-5 before game two was suspended due to darkness. In game two, the Kohawks held a 5-3 lead heading into the seventh inning but it was determined that the game would be suspended. Coe scored the opening runs of game one but saw the Dutch get a two-out, RBI hit in the top of the eighth inning to take the initial game. In game two, Megan Weber hit a grand slam home run, her second of the season, giving the Kohawks an early 5-1 lead which Central cut to two in the fourth. Coe managed the lead until the top of the seventh inning when the game was suspended. The loss drops Coe to 13-7 overall and 8-4 in the A-R-C while Central improves to 6-5 and 4-3 in league play. 
 
The Kohawks had four players record multi-hit days as Weber led the charge with three base-knocks. Keera Ball, Madi Parson and Natalie Blank joined Weber with multiple hits on the afternoon as the trio each had two hits in the games. Ball, who had her two hits in game one, added three RBI in the opener, bringing her season total to 17 overall. Game two starter, Ellie Thurow pitched all six innings, striking out nine batters, six of them looking. 
 
CENTRAL 6 - COE 5 (8 Innings)
The Kohawks jumped out in front early in game one, scoring three runs in the bottom half of the second inning thanks to three hits and one crucial Dutch error. Shaylee Dodd began the inning with a single and Ruby Kappeler followed with a double to put runners on second and third. Natalie Blank then delivered an RBI single, scoring Dodd while moving Kappeler to third. After a line-out, Ball hit a sharp ground ball and reached on an error by the Dutch which allowed Blank and Kappeler to score easily. The Dutch answered back immediately in the top of the third inning, using three hits and one Coe error to score three runs and even the score. The Kohawks retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, getting an RBI single from Ball which scored Hora on the play. 
 
Coe got some crucial insurance in the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring on a wild pitch from Dutch pitcher Sydni Huisman. Starting pitcher Hannah Ausenhus ran into some trouble in the top of the sixth inning, as the Dutch put runners on second and third with just one out. The Dutch managed to push two runs across in the frame, thanks to an RBI single and a sacrifice fly, tying the game at five. The Kohawks threatened in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings but were unable to find the winning run as the teams went to extra innings. The Dutch put two of the first three hitters on base but an outfield assist from Kelsey Hora kept it tied at 5. Central then took the lead with two outs in the inning on a single from Sydni Huisman, scoring Lauren Birt on the play. The one-run lead proved to be enough for the Dutch as Huisman worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth to secure a game one victory. 
 
COE  5 - CENTRAL 4 (Suspended in the top of the 7th due to darkness)
Again, Coe took the early lead, thanks to an RBI double from Stookey which scored Ball from third. The Storm got one run back on a solo home run from Franie Burnett but Thurow got back-to-back strikeouts to keep it tied at one. The Kohawks then got the big blast in the bottom of the third as Weber hit a two-out grand slam, scoring Hora, Ball and Stookey on the long ball. Thurow faced some trouble in the top of the fifth inning, surrendering two runs on a weakly-hit single to the right side. Weber, who was behind the plate for game two, helped her pitcher out on the next play and threw out a potential base runner to end the threat as Coe led 5-3 after 4 ½ innings. The Kohawks put the pressure on the Dutch in the bottom of the sixth inning, putting runners on second and third with two outs but Central managed to get out of the jam. The game was then suspended by the umpires due to darkness and it will be completed on April 27 when the Dutch return to Cedar Rapids. 
 
Up next: Coe will be back in action this weekend on Saturday and Sunday when it hosts Loras College for a doubleheader at 10 A.M on Saturday morning with the third game scheduled for noon on Sunday afternoon. 
 
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