Storm win game one, game two suspended

DUBUQUE, Iowa - The Simpson baseball team held off a late rally by Dubuque to win game one 7-6 and trailed 5-2 in the ninth inning of game two before it was suspended due to darkness. The final inning will take place at 1 p.m. Saturday before the regularly scheduled doubleheader.

Austin Burlin hit his Iowa Conference-leading seventh home run of the season in the first inning of game one and went 3-for-4 with a double in the nightcap, extending his hitting streak to 24 games dating back to last season.

Game One
Trent Dooley had two hits and two RBIs and Trevor Dudar put an end to a four-run, seventh-inning rally by Dubuque as the Storm held on for a 7-6 win in the opener.

Simpson led 7-2 going into the seventh before the Spartans finally got to starter Brock Borgeson. A triple, an infield single and a two-run homer by McWhite put four runs on the board and pulled Dubuque within a run. Dudar struck out two batters looking to end the threat and earn his second save.

After Burlin's homer, Bud Smith doubled and scored on a Jonathan Greiner single to give Simpson a 2-0 lead in the first.

Dooley drove in a run in the fourth and doubled as part of a four-run sixth inning. Luke Anctil drove in two on a double and Simpson built a 7-2 lead before the tenuous seventh inning.

There were four wind/snow delays in the opener. 

Game Two
Jalen Sickels pitched a gem, striking out nine and holding Dubuque to just four hits in 7 1/3 innings. Sickels was charged with all five runs, though, including three in the fourth inning.

The offense couldn't give Sickels any support until the seventh, when Hunter Hillygus doubled to score Sawyer Ocheltree. Ocheltree drove in a run on fielder's choice in the eighth to pull Simpson within 3-2 before the Spartans tacked on two in the home half.

Hillygus, Anctil and Dooley are scheduled to hit for the Storm when play resumes Saturday.