Storm come from behind twice to sweep on second day in Florida

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - The Simpson College softball team came from behind in each game to defeat Washington College and Southern Maine.

Maddie Luderman blasted the 26th home run of her career to move into second in school history to give the Storm (4-2) the lead for good in game one, with the Storm getting complete-game pitching victories from Taryan Barrick-Wessels in game one and Madeline Petersen in game two. The Storm held each opponent to just four hits, coming from behind at one point in each game to claim the wins.

GAME ONE: Simpson 7, Washington College 4

• The Storm jumped on top of the Shorewomen (2-4-1) early in the first inning, with all four Storm batters reaching to start, with Luderman drawing a walk to drive in Ashlyn Steen.
• The Shorewomen got a double play on the next play, but Megan Heidelbauer scored on the play. Freshman Mackenzie James then smacked a two-out double to give the Storm a 3-0 lead.
• From there, both pitchers settled in, with Barrick-Wessels retiring five in a row and Lexi Barnhart retiring eight in a row until the fourth inning.
• The Storm committed two errors after a hit batter, as the bases became loaded with no outs. Washington pulled two back off a fielder's choice and single, before another two-out single gave the Shorewomen a 4-3 lead.
• The Storm responded right back, with a sacrifice fly from Alexis Ehlers scoring Heidelbauer to tie the game.
• Up stepped Maddie Luderman, who blasted a home run to center field to give Simpson the lead again. It was the 26th home run of Luderman's career, the second-most all-time in school history.
• Ehlers and Luderman gave the Storm insurance in the top of the sixth, with an Ehlers single scoring Steen to begin. Luderman gave the Storm a 7-4 lead with a sacrifice fly to score Heidelbauer again.
• Barrick-Wessels retired five of the next six batters to end the game and give the Storm the victory.

GAME ONE LEADERS

• Megan Heidelbauer: 2-for-2, 3 runs
• Maddie Luderman: 1-for-2, HR, 3 RBI
• Alexis Ehlers: 1-for-2, 2 RBI, BB
• Mackenzie James: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI
• Taryan Barrick-Wessels: 7 IP, 4 H, 3 SO

GAME TWO: Simpson 5, Southern Maine 1

• The Huskies (1-1) got out to an early lead, with Abby Miner hitting a solo shot for a 1-0 lead.
• Steen and Heidelbauer reached second and third to lead off the bottom of the first, but the Huskies got out of the jam.
• Ehlers smacked a solo home run in the bottom of the third to tie the game at one run a piece.
• Caelynn Obleton gave the Storm the lead in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI groundout.
• Kate Kriegel added to the lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth.
• The Storm then worked a double steal, with Kriegel taking off for second. While that happened, James took off for home to give the Storm a 4-1 lead.
• With Madeline Petersen continuing to shut down the Huskies offense, freshman Katie Shaner was called on to pinch hit and collected her first hit and home run in a Storm uniform with a solo shot to extend the Storm lead to 5-1.
• Petersen completed the first complete game win of her career, with Obleton fielding a ground ball to turn the game-ending double play.

GAME TWO LEADERS

• Alexis Ehlers: 2-for-4, HR, RBI
• Kate Kriegel: 2-for-3, RBI, 2 SB
• Katie Shaner: 1-for-1, HR, RBI
• Ashlyn Steen: 2-for-4, SB
• Madeline Petersen: 7 IP, 4 H, 4 SO

NOTABLE

• The Storm are unbeaten against Washington College all-time, winning all three meetings.
• Simpson and Southern Maine met for the first time in the programs' histories.
• Petersen and Barrick-Wessels combined to allow just eight hits and strike out seven batters.
• The Storm outhit their two opponents by a tally of 16-8.

UP NEXT
The Storm continue play tomorrow against Hope and Wheaton (Mass.). The Storm will begin at 12:30 central time against Hope, with the game against Wheaton to follow.