Van Vleet powers softball to 3-1 weekend

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - Abbie Van Vleet used her bat and her arm to lead the Simpson softball team to a 3-1 record over the weekend at the Rebel Spring Games.

Simpson started the weekend with a controversial 6-4 loss to Wheaton on Saturday, but recovered with a 9-0 win over Roger Williams later in the day before beating Beloit (2-0) and Skidmore (12-2) on Sunday.

A sophomore from Indianola in her first season with the Storm after transferring from Northern Iowa, Van Vleet hit a team-best .692 with nine RBIs and went 2-0 in the circle as Simpson improved to 10-2 on the young season.

The highlight of Van Vleet's weekend came in Sunday's win over Beloit. In that game, she carried a perfect game into the seventh inning and accounted for both Simpson runs, driving in the first and scoring the other.

WHEATON (Mass.) 6, SIMPSON 4
Van Vleet would have had another hit on her stat line had it not been for a violation of the re-entry rule. Van Vleet appeared to complete a four-run seventh that would have forced extra innings after her two-RBI single brought Simpson all the way back from a 6-2 deficit. However, the Wheaton coaching staff appealed to the umpire, who confirmed that Van Vleet didn't officially re-enter the game after leaving for pinch-runner Kinsey Van Houten in the sixth. So, instead of a game-tying hit, she was called out.

Simpson trailed 6-2 going into the seventh before Rachel Guessford drew a bases-loaded walk and Kylie Van houten hit an RBI single. Ashley Prettyman went 3-for-4, Tori Haag hit a two-run homer in the first and Kaytlyn Ernst went 3 2/3 innings in the loss.

SIMPSON 9, ROGER WILLIAMS 0 (5 inn.)
Van Vleet allowed just two hits in five innings of work and went 2-for-3 with a two-RBI triple. Hailey Jensen drove in two runs and Haag, Van Houten and Stacie Brown had two hits apiece. Van Vleet's triple came as part of a big third inning that saw the Storm put up four runs to take a 5-0 lead.

SIMPSON 2, BELOIT 0
Van Vleet threw a complete-game, one-hitter and brought a perfect game into the seventh inning. She drove in the first run of the game on a single in the second and scored on a base hit by Brown later in the inning. She finished 3-for-3 and Van Houten went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.

SIMPSON 12, SKIDMORE 2 (5 inn.)
Simpson jumped out to an 11-0 lead and never looked back. Van Vleet went 3-for-3 with two triples, a double and six RBIs, one shy of tying a school record. Haag went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, Van Houten drove in two runs and Ashley Prettyman went 2-for-2 with two runs scored. Ernst went two innings and struck out three in the win.