Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 20, 1994 TAG: 9405200079
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
After a 20-minute delay, the game between Alma (Mich.) and Central (Iowa) got under way. Three hours, 30 minutes later, it ended.
The sun was well set over the Blue Ridge and the lights glared down over the Moyer Complex when the longest game in the championship's 13-year history was completed.
Staci Van Arendonk drove in the winning run for Central in the top of the 16th inning that sent the Dutch past the Beavers 4-3.
The senior first baseman had put Central up 3-1 in the 13th before Alma rallied to tie it in the bottom half.
"I knew it would have to end, but I didn't know when it was going to end," Van Arendonk said. "In the 13th, I figured the game was over. I figured our defense would hold them. We didn't think they'd hit the ball they did, but give them credit for coming back like that."
Missey Allen broke the championship record for strikeouts, throwing 16 in 9 1-3 innigs of relief for Central, the defending national champion.
Allen struck broke the record of La Verne's Stacy Mays set in 1993. Alma had five hits and five walks off Allen and scored two runs, both earned.
"When you get in a game like this it's all serious," Allen said. "You don't worry about how long you're out there. The way I felt, I could have gone on forever."
Alma pitcher Julie Hoffman broke a record of her own, throwing all 16 innings, breaking the record of 15 held by several pitchers. Fifth-seeded Central (34-12) went up 1-0 in the bottom of the third, but the Beavers (36-7) quickly tied it up in the top of the fourth and it stayed tied for the next nine innings.
Van Arendonk tripled in two runs in the top of the 13th that gave the Dutch a 3-2 advantage.
The Beavers, making their first tournament appearance, rallied in the bottom of the 13th to tie the score at 3-3.
Rachel Butler tripled off the right field wall and scored on a single to center by Holly Barnett. Then, with two outs, Julie Kirchoff walked and Deb Quackenbush lined to second baseman Stacy Sonnek, who bobbled the ball while Kirchoff came home.
Central's victory set up a rematch between the Dutch and Buena Vista, rivals in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, today at 1 p.m.
The top-seed Beavers (33-3) beat Central twice during the regular season, 7-5 and 5-3, to claim the conference title.
In Thursday's second game started two hours late and pitted third-seeded Trenton State against sixth-seeded Bridgewater State (Mass.). The winner plays No. 2 seed Rowan at 3 p.m. today.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***