Dominant pitching, homers power softball to series sweep

INDIANOLA, Iowa — Taryan Barrick-Wessels and Megan Crockett homered and the Simpson College softball team beat Buena Vista 6-2 on Sunday, completing a three-game series sweep to open American Rivers Conference play.

Randie Richmond threw four innings of two-hit ball in relief for the Storm (5-4, 3-0 A-R-C), who posted their first 3-0 start to league play since the 2018 season.

The Simpson pitching staff finished a dominant weekend against the Beavers (8-7, 0-3). Richmond, Sunday starter Barrick-Wessels and Emily Bell combined to post a 0.43 ERA over the three-game series. Buena Vista managed just a .158 batting average against the trio.

Barrick-Wessels – who allowed one run in three innings of work in the circle – helped her own cause in the second inning, hitting a two-run homer to left to give Simpson a 2-0 lead. Buena Vista got on the board in the third thanks to a Simpson throwing error. But Barrick-Wessels drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the inning and Maxie Saceda-Hurt added a sacrifice fly for a 4-1 Simpson lead.

Crocket put the game out of reach in the sixth with a two-run shot off Carrie Dose to make the score 6-1. Crocket went 2-for-4 at the plate, bouncing back from a 1-for-8 performance Saturday. She also made the defensive play of the game with a leaping, over-the-shoulder grab to rob Michaela Mason of an extra-base hit in the fifth inning.

Richmond went 2-for-3 at the plate in addition to her pitching efforts.

Mason went 2-for-3 to lead Buena Vista. Ashtyn Miller took her second loss of the weekend in the circle, allowing four runs – three earned – in 3 1/3 innings.