Central becomes Storm's latest top-25 victim

PELLA, Iowa – Stacie Brown hit two of the team's four home runs in game two, Kacee Arey kept Central's bats at bay and the Simpson softball team earned a split with the sixth-ranked Dutch on Saturday, losing game one 5-2 before taking the nightcap 9-3.

Central becomes the third nationally-ranked team to fall victim to Simpson. The Storm (26-12, 9-5 Iowa Conference) beat then-No. 5 Luther on April 7 and took down No. 21 Coe earlier this week.

Brown drove in three runs on her two homers and Keri Sorensen went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a home run. Simpson also got a long ball from Chelsea Winegard, tying for the second-most home runs in a game in school history, while the four homers were the most ever against a conference foe.

Simpson's nine runs were the most allowed by the Dutch (26-6, 7-3) since a 10-5 loss to UW-La Crosse on March 14.

The Storm set the tone early in game two. With two on and one out in the first, the cleanup hitter, Sorensen, smacked a three run homer. Two batters later, Brown took starter Brie Haycraft deep as Simpson led 4-0 after the first half inning.

After Winegard's solo shot in the second, Simpson took a 5-2 lead into its at-bat in the sixth. Sorensen led off with a single and Brown lifted a two-run shot, extending the lead to 7-2.

Arey (23-12) scattered seven hits and struck out two in the nightcap. She gave up a two-RBI single to Anne Sarcone in the third but held Central to three hits the rest of the way.

Central got up early in game one with three runs in the first and Simpson's couldn't dent the plate until its final at-bat.

Arey issued three straight walks to start the game and Angela Davis took advantage of the situation with a bases-clearing double. A pinch-hit home run by Karlee Rock made it 5-0 in the sixth.

Simpson started a rally in the seventh. Back-to-back hits by Sorensen and Tieryn Potratz put runners at second and third for Brown, who scored both on a single. But Brown was put out trying to stretch her hit into a double for the first out. Starter Rhianna Fleetwood retired the final two batter, finishing off her complete-game effort.

Simpson closes the regular season next weekend when its hosts Buena Vista in a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 28. Simpson will recognize its seniors between games.