Storm route No. 6 Luther in opener to earn split

INDIANOLA, Iowa – Simpson scored 16 runs and collected 14 hits against the second-best pitching staff in the nation in game one Saturday afternoon, earning a crucial split with fellow Iowa Conference front-runner, No. 6 Luther.

Game one saw Simpson run-rule Luther 18-6 in five innings before falling 2-0 in the nightcap. The teams entered the day as the only undefeated teams in the Iowa Conference.

Tieryn Potratz (Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge) homered and drove in four runs and Amanda Enochs (Des Moines, Iowa/East) drove in four more runs as the Storm (20-7, 9-1 IIAC) shocked the nation's second-best pitching staff in the opener.

The Norse (23-4, 6-1) had allowed only 25 runs in 25 games going into Saturday, boasting the nation's second-best ERA (0.88). But Simpson touched up Luther for eight runs in the first inning – seven of which were unearned thanks to a dropped popup – to erase a 4-0 deficit and take an 8-4 lead into the second.

The No. 9 hitter, Enochs drove in two on a single in the opening frame before Potratz hammered her fifth long ball of the season in her second at-bat of the inning. Three runs crossed the plate on the shot as Simpson took an 8-4 lead, thanks in large part to four two-out hits.

Trailing 9-8, Luther put four on the board in the top of the third to pull within a run. But an RBI double by Potratz and a run-scoring single from Allie Hock (Lawrence, Kan./Free State) widened Simpson's lead before closing the game out with two runs in the fourth and three in the fifth.

Simpson's third pitcher of the game, Jessica Toyne (Bellevue, Neb./East) earned the game one win. She surrendered only two runs in three innings after Whitney Oviatt (Carnation, Wash./Cedarcrest) and Bryn Johnson (Laurens, Iowa/Laurens-Marathon) gave up a combined six runs in the first two innings.

The Storm couldn't get on the board in game two, as Luther's Kim Lambert went the distance in the 2-0 win. She held Simpson two five hits, two of which came off the bat of Kelsey Castenson (Harcourt, Iowa/Southeast Webster). Toyne took the loss, allowing both runs. Oviatt tossed four innings in relief, yielding only two hits.

Simpson will be in action again Sunday when it travels to Fulton, Mo. to take on Westminster in a non-conference doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.