Young's long outing goes for naught in loss to Wartburg

INDIANOLA, Iowa – Another long-outing by Aaron Young went unrewarded.

The durable left-hander threw more than nine innings for the third time this season, but the Simpson baseball team dropped a 6-2, 10-inning decision to Wartburg on Saturday afternoon.

Young (3-6) scattered 10 hits in the first nine innings but gave up three hits, an intentional walk and bases clearing triple to start the 10th.

Young is 0-3 when going past the ninth inning.

Wartburg starter Scott Benson (5-4) matched Young's stamina, as he also went the distance.

The Storm (16-18, 10-9 Iowa Conference) managed only four hits against Benson, who struck out 13 for the Knights (18-16, 10-8).

After Wartburg took a 2-0 lead in the third, Simpson answered with a pair of runs in the home half. Grant Thomas (pictured) led off with a double and scored on a wild pitch from Benson and Michael Chia drove in a run on a single.

But offense was hard to come by the rest of the way as Simpson went down in order in the fourth, sixth, eighth, ninth and tenth innings.

Levi Montague drove in the winning run with a bases-loaded, infield single in the 10^th. Craig Kerper followed with a bases-clearing triple.

Montague, Kerper and Tony Stenberg all finished with three hits for the Knights, who pulled ahead of Simpson in the conference standings by a half game. Central (16-5) leads the league, followed by Coe (12-8). After that, Buena Vista, Luther and Wartburg are all 10-8 while Simpson is 10-9, making the final two games of the series crucial for both teams.

Simpson and Wartburg conclude their three-game series with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on Sunday at McBride Field.