Barrick-Wessels tosses one-hit shutout

GREENVILLE, Ill. – Taryan Barrick-Wessels threw a complete game, one-hit shutout and the Simpson College softball team split its Saturday doubleheader with Greenville. The Storm defeated the Panthers 6-0 in the first game and lost the nightcap 3-2. 

The Storm (13-6) will close out their non-conference schedule with a doubleheader against Monmouth (Ill.) on Sunday at 2 p.m. Simpson will then make the short trip to Pella on Thursday, March 31 for its American Rivers Conference opener against Central. 

Game 1: Simpson 6, Greenville 0
Barrick-Wessels was in total control in game one, allowing just one hit and one walk in seven scoreless innings en route to her seventh victory of the season. The junior struck out seven batters and also went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and her first career triple.  

Simpson tallied 14 hits throughout the game with Barrick-Wessels and Maddie Luderman combining for six of those. Karlie Hill launched her fourth home run of the season, while Liv Erickson and Randie Richmond each recorded two hits. Erickson brought Barrick-Wessels home with a single in the fifth and Richmond drove in the Storm's final two runs with a base hit up the middle.

Game 2: Greenville 3, Simpson 2
The Storm loaded the bases early and scored two on a dropped fly ball in the top of the first. The Panthers (6-12) also took advantage of a dropped fly ball in the frame and scored the go-ahead runs with Mia Boyd's second long ball of the season in the third. 

Simpson threatened in the fifth inning after a single and back-to-back walks loaded the bases once more, but Greenville's Alison Klaus put an end to the inning with her seventh strikeout of the game. The Storm left seven runners stranded during the contest.

Hill led Simpson with two hits, her seventh multi-hit game of the year.