Baseball concludes season with win over Duhawks

DUBUQUE, Iowa – The Simpson College baseball team concluded the 2022 campaign with a 7-6 victory over RV Loras on Sunday afternoon.

The Storm finished the season 19-20 overall and 10-14 in the American Rivers Conference. Simpson's 19 wins are the most since tallying 22 victories during the 2014 season.

An error by the Duhawk infield loaded the bases for Kaleb Bauer with two outs in the top of the first. The junior sent the ball up the middle to score a pair, but the lead was short-lived as Loras (31-9, 15-9 A-R-C) responded with three runs in the home half and another in the second for a 4-2 advantage.

A Luke Willis double followed by RBI singles from Kolton Arnold, Brennen Lemke and Matthew Marquez propelled Simpson back in front, 5-4, in the top of the fifth inning. The Storm added two more runs one inning later as Bauer scored on a wild pitch and Keaton DeKock was sent home on a balk.

The Duhawks capitalized on leadoff doubles in both the sixth and eighth to close the gap to one but were held in check in the ninth as Brady Held came in and earned the save in his final career outing. He was one of five Simpson seniors to contribute to the win on the hill; Colton Major, Cameron Liston, Ben Rupe and Brady Leonard all made their final appearance for the Storm. They combined for seven strikeouts, adding to the team's school-record season total of 376.

Simpson finished the game with 10 hits with four players tallying a pair. Arnold, DeKock and Willis each recorded two hits in their final collegiate game and Bauer added two while driving in a team-high two runs.