Baseball opens home schedule with Saturday split

INDIANOLA, Iowa – The Simpson College baseball team opened its 2023 home schedule with a split against St. Olaf, earning a 4-1 win in game two.

The Oles (1-1) managed to edge the Storm (1-4) by one in the opener, but Simpson shook things off and held St. Olaf to just one hit in the nightcap en route to their first win of the year. Easton Dunwoody and Mitchell Roeder led the Storm to victory on the mound and Ian Baldwin drove in the go-ahead runs with a double.

The two squads will be back at McBride Field tomorrow to close the series. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.

Game 1: St. Olaf 2, Simpson 1
St. Olaf managed just two hits and a walk off starter Trey Castile through the first five innings but loaded the bases with a single, a hit by pitch and a walk in the sixth. Jack Alley drove the first run home with a single and Frank Lavin drew a bases-loaded walk to push the score to 2-0.

Dylan Schlee entered in relief of Castile in the seventh and kept Simpson within striking distance as the Storm entered the home half of the ninth still trailing by just two. Brady Held singled to shortstop and Aiden Rupprecht drew a walk to put the tying run on first with no outs. A sacrifice bunt by Sam Porter advanced the runners to second and third and Lucas Juhl cut the deficit in half with an RBI groundout. Will Carlock nearly evened the score with a line drive into left field, but Brendan Goldman managed to record the out to preserve the victory for the visitors.

Castile and Schlee combined for 10 strikeouts on the mound, while five players tallied a hit on offense.

Game 2: Simpson 4, St. Olaf 1
The second game started much like the first with neither team managing more than one hit in the first four innings. While the Storm were unable to do anything with theirs in the first, the Oles cashed in on a triple by Sam Lavin for a 1-0 advantage in the fourth.

St. Olaf threatened to extend its lead the following inning by loading the bases via three walks, but Dunwoody coaxed a fly out from Alley that right fielder Matthew Marquez made a diving catch on for the third out. The Storm then took the lead for good with three runs in the home half, scoring one on a double steal and two on Baldwin's double to left center.

Dunwoody added three more strikeouts to his total before giving way to Roeder in the seventh. Roeder held the guests without a hit in the seventh and eighth before tallying three strikeouts in the ninth to shut the door after Carlock drove in an insurance tally in the bottom of the eighth.

Dunwoody picked up his first collegiate win, allowing one run on one hit with nine strikeouts and four walks. Roeder tallied four strikeouts in three innings to collect his first save. It was Simpson's first one-hitter since April 23, 2021.