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Senior Owen Waller singled through the left side in the second, but it didn’t amount to anything as he got out trying to steal second. In the third, Central scored two runs in part to a walk and several stolen bases. The Pipers were still unable to get their act together and didn’t manage to get any hits with two of the three outs being strikeouts.

“Baseball is a weird game,” said sophomore catcher James Bachmeier. “You never know how a game will turn out.”

Central was able to score five runs in the fifth. Waller scored a run through a sacrifice made by sophomore Geoff Fuller putting the Pipers on the board.

Central scored three more runs in the sixth while Hamline was still hitting fly balls. Hamline was able to strike out two of the Dutch in the seventh but the Pipers were never able to find that pot of gold and the game ended 11-1 Central.

“We were hitting the ball hard, but it just kept dropping in the air,” said Bachmeier. “They just started scoring off bloopers early on, giving them confidence for the rest of the game.”

For the most part, game two was a sequel of the first. The Inning started with senior Brian Kingery getting a single through the left side. This didn’t amount to anything. A home run hit by Duerfeldt put them on the board 2-0.

Bachmeier scored in the second after being hit by a pitch and a double hit by first-year Evan Vail to the left field as head coach Verdugo won the big part of the wishbone. Unfortunately, the Dutch also scored bringing the score to 3-1 at the end of the second.

Hamline had a strong third with Thompson scoring, Bennett tripling and scoring, and Bachmeier doubling. Central was able to score eight runs when it was their turn at bat, unwilling to let Hamline be the sole scoring team in an inning.

Neither team scored in the fourth and fifth. Both junior Derek Rundquist and first-year Mike Goldsmith singled in the sixth. Central scored three runs with one being a homerun.

In the seventh, the Pipers started to come together for a real ball game, maybe they found a four leaf clover. Sophomore Jayden Grupe walked followed by a walk by junior Bao Nguyen. Bachmeier was the next to bat, hitting a homerun, doubling Hamline’s number of runs to six. Rundquist then doubled to left center, first-year James McGee grounded out and Rundquist advanced to third. The Pipers singled to third and Rundquist scored. Hamline was on a roll and junior Jason Juntunen doubled to left field while Goldsmith crossed the home plate. Thompson doubled down the left field line with Juntunen scoring. The streak of luck ended there, after scoring six runs in the seventh by Hamline, the game ended 14-9 Central.

“Things like this happen in baseball,” said Bachmeier.

The Pipers will compete in the Greater Phoenix Invitational over spring break and will play Macalester on Saturday, April 1, for their first game after break.