Long ball fuels win over Buena Vista

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Simpson softball team hit four home runs, inclduing three in a decisive fourth inning, to beat Buena Vista 11-4 Saturday in the Iowa Conference Tournament.

Tori Haag, Rachel Guessford, Abbie Van Vleet and Hillary Harmon all went deep for the fourth-seeded Storm (27-14), who will face top-seeded Coe on Sunday at 10 a.m. The winner moves on to play in the first championship against second-seeded Luther, which beat Coe 2-0 in the semifinals on Saturday.

Simpson lost to Coe 3-1 in the second round of the tournament on Friday and is 0-3 against the Kohawks this season.

Van Vleet had three hits and four RBIs, hitting a three-run homer in Simpson's six-run, fourth inning. She also went four innings to earn the win in the circle, allowing two earned runs to improve to 19-2 on the year.

Simpson led 4-3 after the third before going off for six runs off for hits in the fourth. Haag homered to lead off the inning and Van Vleet blasted a three-run shot. Harmon made it back-to-back jacks with a solo shot as Simpson took a commanding 10-3 lead.

Guessford's homer came in the third, a two-run shot that gave Simpson a 4-3 lead. Simpson's four home runs were the most by the team in a game this season.

Haag and Hailey Jensen each went 3-for-4 at the plate.

Sam Engleman went 3-for-4 with a homer to lead the sixth-seeded Beavers (15-21), who saw their improbable run in the tournament come to a close. Buena Vista became the first No. 6 seed to win a first round game after upsetting third-seeded Central 7-4 on Friday. The Beavers lost to second-seeded Luther in the second game and beat Dubuque to advance.