Nebraska Wesleyan’s late rally sinks Storm

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- Spencer Scheer drove in the go-ahead run on a suicide squeeze in the ninth inning and Nebraska Wesleyan came back to beat the Simpson baseball team 6-3 on a chilly Saturday at McBride Field.

The Prairie Wolves (6-16, 2-9 Iowa Conference) trailed 3-1 going into the eighth before scoring five unanswered in the final two innings to win the three-game series. Starter Jesse Maguire went the distance and Derek Kolbush drove in three runs on the day.

Tanner Jansen had the best outing of his young career for the Storm (3-19, 2-9), allowing just one run off three hits in seven strong innings. Simpson took a 2-1 lead in the second when Brandon Urias drove in a run on a groundout and Trey Kehoe scored on a passed ball.

The score remained that way until the eighth when Scott Meier tripled to right and came home when Scheer missed the cutoff man on the relay.

With Jansen out of the game, Nebraska Wesleyan took advantage with two runs to tie the game in the eighth. Kolbush drew a bases-loaded walk for the first run and Justus Stocks came in to score when reliever Colin Sexton was called for a balk.

Scheer's squeeze came with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth. He dropped a well-placed bunt in front of home plate that Sexton tried to flip to Truman Schmitt for the force out at the plate, but Brook Johnson was moving on the pitch and scored easily for the go-ahead run. Kolbush added insurance runs with a two-RBI single in the next at-bat.

Simpson couldn't get to Maguire consistently as the senior right-hander allowed just one earned run on five hits with eight strikeouts.

Top Offensive Performances
Scott Meier — 1-4, 3B, R
Trey Kehoe — 1-4, R
Brandon Urias — 0-4, RBI

Pitching Breakdown
Tanner Jansen — 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 Ks
Jonathan Sailstad — 0.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 Ks
Michael Sunga — 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Colin Sexton — L (0-4), 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 Ks

Up Next
Simpson travels to Wartburg on Tuesday, April 10 to conclude the midweek series with the Knights. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. from Waverly.