Storm fall to league-leading Luther

DECORAH - Simpson ran into the conference's top pitching team Sunday, coming away with three hits in 9-1 (5) and 7-0 losses to No. 4 Luther.

The Storm (22-16, 8-8 Iowa Conference) enter next week's league tournament with the No. 4 seed. The three-day tournament will be held May 5-7 in Decorah.

Tournament matchups will be posted on www.iowaconference.com.

With the win, the Norse (34-4, 14-2) clinched a share of the Iowa Conference Championship, sharing the title with No. 5 Central (33-5, 14-2).

Simpson managed one hit against Lexy Determan in game one. A single by Allie Hock (Lawrence, Kan.) scored Veronica Roshek (Urbandale, Iowa) for a 1-0 lead.

Luther answered with a run in the bottom of the first and two in the second. Kelsey Weindruch and Shari Huber drove in two runs each and Pagie Comentino went 3-for-3. Detterman (19-2) struck out six and walked five.

Kacee Arey (Lucas, Iowa) gave up 10 hits and struck out four in four innings. She fell to 11-6 with the loss.

One inning made the difference in game two, as Luther let loose for six runs in the third inning. Lauran Snyder hit a three-run homer in the frame and a pair of errors resulted in three more unearned runs.

Becca Girvan (15-2) got the win, striking out 11. Allison Barloon (Altoona, Iowa) allowed six runs - three earned - in two innings. She fell to 5-4 with the loss.

Bryn Johnson (Laurens, Iowa) held Luther to one run off five hits in the final four innings.