Storm’s upset bid falls short at Iowa

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- With five freshmen in the starting lineup, the Simpson baseball team missed on a couple opportunities to pull off the upset at the University of Iowa on Tuesday, and fell 7-2 to the Hawkeyes.

The Storm (6-2) had the bases loaded with two outs in the top of the sixth, but Iowa (10-7) was able to get out of the jam. In the eighth, Simpson packed the bases once more, this time with zero outs, but the Hawkeyes bunkered down and escaped with no damage from the visitors.

In the top of the third, the Storm pushed a runner across to make it 4-1. Brady Held started the inning with a full-count walk and moved to second when Richie Hintz walked as well. Tyrese Moore laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners and Kolton Arnold smoked a ball to deep center, allowing Held to tag up and score.

Brandon Urias broke the no-hitter bid in the sixth with an RBI single to center to score Truman Schmitt.

On defense, Simpson displayed range and big-play making abilities against the Big Ten squad. Zach Hollingsworth received a single in deep right field and threw the ball in on a rope to second to get the runner as he was trying to stretch the hit into a double.

With a runner on first and third with one out, Nathan Carlin was able to field a ball up the middle to step on second and throw the runner out for the double play to end the Hawkeye scoring chance. Hintz bare-handed a ball after it hit off Dunston Werner's glove on the mound and threw the runner out at first to end the fifth inning.

Iowa plated four runs in the second on only one hit, but was walked on three occasions. The Hawkeyes tallied one more in the sixth and pushed a pair across in the eighth to stretch the lead.

The Storm pitching staff only went three deep during the game, compared to Iowa using six arms to claim the victory. Cameron Liston started for Simpson and received the loss by going one inning, with four earned runs and five walks. Werner followed Liston and pitched six strong innings with just three earned runs on seven hits. Tanner Jansen closed out the eighth with a strikeout.

Iowa struggled to keep the bases clear with erratic pitching and walked seven Storm batters. Josh Breitbarth, Carlin and Schmitt all walked twice.

Simpson hosts Buena Vista on Friday for the 2019 home opener. First pitch is slated to begin at 6 p.m.