Prettyman, Ernst help Storm split with Gustavus Adolphus

INDIANOLA, Iowa – The No. 10 Simpson softball team split a doubleheader with Gustavus Adolphus on Saturday, losing game one 6-3 before coming back to take the nightcap 6-4.

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Gustavus Adolphus 6, Simpson 3

Hannah Heacox didn't allow a hit until the fourth inning and held Simpson scoreless until the seventh as Gustavus Adolphus held on for a 6-3 win in the opener.

Paige Breneman hit a solo homer in the third and Heacox kept the Simpson offense off balance, striking out eight. The Gusties (8-8) added three in the sixth and two in the seventh to take a 6-0 lead into the last at-bat.

Simpson threatened in the seventh, piecing together a two-out rally with an RBI double by Britney Steele and a two-run homer by Hailey Jensen. Heacox got out of the jam, getting Abbie VanVleet to pop out to second for the final out.

VanVleet (10-1) took the loss, allowing four runs – all earned – off five hits in 5 2/3 innings. Prettyman went 2-for-3.

Simpson 6, Gustavus Adolphus 4

Prettyman crushed a three-run homer to dead center in the bottom of the sixth, bringing Simpson all the way back from a 4-0 deficit to steal game two.

Kaytlyn Ernst threw 2 2/3 innings of perfect relief, earning the win after starter Riley Fisher gave up four runs. Rachel Guessford went 3-for-4 to lead the Storm (21-3) at the plate.

Simpson trailed 4-3 in the sixth when Jensen and Guessford led off with back-to-back singles. Prettyman came up next, putting her only hit of the game into the evergreens beyond the centerfield fence.

Jensen also had a hand in the three-run fifth that got the Storm back into the game. She led off by reaching on a dropped fly ball, eventually leading to three, unearned runs. Taylor Davis and Grace Hall had RBI singles and Tori Haag walked in a run to make it 4-3.

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UP NEXT

Simpson hosts rive Central in the Iowa Conference opener Tuesday, March 31. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.