Storm drop doubleheader to Wis.-Platteville

INDIANOLA, Iowa — Three bad innings came back to haunt the Simpson baseball team in the home-opener as the Storm lost to Wis.-Platteville 14-7 and 10-2 on a chilly Wednesday afternoon.

The Storm (3-9) scored first in both games, leading 4-0 in the opener and 2-0 through four innings in game two. The Pioneers (7-4) used a five-run fourth to take control in the opener and scored 10 runs between the fifth and sixth innings in game two. 

Simpson opens Iowa Conference play this weekend when Loras comes to McBride Field. Due to forecasted inclement weather, the three-game set has been moved to Saturday and Sunday. The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 3 p.m. and conclude the series Sunday with a single game beginning at 1 p.m.

Wis.-Platteville 14, Simpson 7
Kyle Reinhart hit a go-ahead three-run homer as part of a five-run fourth as the Pioneers scored 10 unanswered runs to erase an early 4-0 deficit. 

Simpson scored four in the bottom of the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Luke Anctil and RBI singles from Caylor Deeth and Nathan Carlin. Platteville tied it up with two runs in the second and two in the third but Simpson re-took the lead with two runs in the home half. Truman Schmitt doubled in a run and Carlin plated an RBI triple to give Simpson a 6-4 lead before the Pioneers broke the game open. 

Carlin finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Schmitt went 2-for-3 with one RBI to lead the Storm. Simpson sent five pitchers to the mound with Tyler Englehardt (0-3) taking the loss in two innings of work.

Wis.-Platteville 10, Simpson 2
Colson Frakes threw four strong innings but Platteville got to him in the fifth, loading the bases on two walks and a single. Josh Moses then hit a bases-clearing triple off reliever Adam Richman for a 3-2 lead as the Pioneers scored four in the fifth and six in the sixth to take control of the game.

Frakes (0-1) held Platteville scoreless through the first four innings, fanning four. Simpson scored first when Josh Osborne hit an RBI double in the second. Trent Dooley gave Simpson a 2-0 lead in the third, coming home after Anctil induced a rundown between first and second.

Dooley went 2-for-3 to lead the Storm, who couldn't figure out Pioneer starter Caleb Kaufmann. Kaufmann (1-0) allowed just two runs off four hits in five innings, striking out six.