Storm lose to Concordia in extra-inning walkoff

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Thomas Sautel hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th and Concordia (Neb.) handed the Simpson baseball team a gut-wrenching 6-5 loss Wednesday at the Tucson Invitational Games.

Simpson took a 5-4 lead on a double by Brandon Urias in the top of the 11th. But a walk, a pair of well-placed bunts and a throwing error brought in the tying run for the Bulldogs (6-4), who were picked to win the Great Plains Athletic Conference in 2018.

Urius finished with three hits and two RBIs to lead the Storm (0-5), who have lost four, one-run games on the young season. Jared Herzog and Scott Meier had two apiece and Noah Sacco had a double.

Simpson got great efforts from a pair of freshman left-handers on the mound. Cameron Liston gave up three runs -- all earned -- on five hits in five innings of work and Tom Kunzer threw five-plus innings of relief, giving up three runs and striking out six.

The Storm trailed 2-0 after the first but responded with two in the second. Urius singled in a run and allowed Meier to score from third when he coaxed a run down. Simpson took the lead with two runs in the fourth, getting an RBI single from Trey Kehoe and safety squeeze from Tanner Jansen. Concordia got a run in the fifth and a run in the seventh to tie it.

Up Next
Simpson is off Thursday and returns to action Friday with a doubleheader against Marian (Wis.). First pitch is set for 2:30 p.m. MT.