Storm fall in close battle with league-leading Norse

DECORAH, Iowa – The Simpson College baseball team couldn't come away with a win in a tight road battle with Luther, which came into the game undefeated in conference play. The Norse held off two late rally attempts by the Storm to win the series opener 4-1.

Simpson (11-13, 1-7 A-R-C) had a runner at third in each of the first two innings but was unable to capitalize, allowing Luther's two runs in the bottom of the third to be the first scores of the game. The contest then turned into a pitcher's dual between Easton Dunwoody and Harry Blum as only one hit was allowed by each over the course of the next three and a half innings.

After the Norse (15-8, 8-0 A-R-C) extended their lead to four in the seventh, Ian Baldwin and Matthew Marquez opened the eighth with back-to-back base hits to center field. Brady Held added a third consecutive single to score Baldwin and advanced to second on a throwing error by the Norse, putting two runners in scoring position with nobody out.

Ty Cowley stepped into the batter's box next and attempted to bring Marquez home from third with a sacrifice fly, but left fielder Gabe Atkins fired a throw to the plate and the catcher was able to apply the tag for a double play which took the steam out of Simpson's eighth-inning rally. In the ninth, Brennen Lemke and Lucas Juhl once again put the tying runs on base with a pair of singles, but Luther stood tall again and solidified the win with back-to-back strikeouts.

Held was 3-for-4 with a double, while Marquez and Juhl were both 2-for-4. Dunwoody struck out seven batters in his eight innings on the hill.

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Simpson will have two more opportunities to hand the Norse their first conference loss of the season tomorrow. The doubleheader is set to begin at noon.