Storm eliminate Luther to stay alive in IIAC Tournament
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Dave Johnson (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) homered twice and drove in five runs as Simpson avoided elimination in the Iowa Conference Baseball Tournament with a 10-4 win against Luther on Saturday at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Fifth-seeded Simpson lost its first game of the day to top-seeded Buena Vista, 3-2. Simpson now faces fourth-seeded and host Coe for the second time in the tournament on Saturday at 3 p.m. Simpson beat Coe 14-8 in the opening round.
With a win, Simpson advances to play the loser of the Buena Vista vs. Wartburg contest immediately following its first game of the day. Follow live stats of the game by clicking here.
Johnson finished the game with four hits and three runs scored while bringing his team-leading home run total to 10. His three-run homer in the sixth inning gave the Storm (22-17) a comfortable 10-1 lead.
Paul Brown (Polk City, Iowa/North Polk) held Luther's bats in check, allowing five hits and four runs - one earned - in the complete-game effort. Brown (3-2) struck out seven and held the conference batting champion, Ben Schott, hitless in four at-bats. Schott leads the league with a .440 batting average.
Darin Schneider took the loss for the Norse (25-18), allowing seven runs in 2 2/3 innings. Luther was eliminated with the loss.
In the first game of the day, two unearned runs off three Simpson errors were the difference for the Beavers (27-11).
With the game tied 2-2, Buena Vista pushed the winning run across the plate in the eighth. With runners at first and third and one out, Simpson failed to turn a double play on a ground ball up the middle, allowing the winning run to score.
Chris Dorff (Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale) was the hard-luck loser, allowing only three runs - one earned - off six hits in the complete game. Dorff (4-3) struck out five.
Corey Rasmussen (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) and Scott Ethell (Knoxville, Iowa/Knoxville) each drove in a run on RBI singles in the fifth inning, as Simpson tied the game 2-2.
