Storm wrap up Florida trip with two wins

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - The Simpson College softball team heads back to Iowa after winning 10 of its 12 games in Florida, finishing off the trip with a pair of wins over North Park and Sewanee.

The Storm (12-4) started their journey in Kissimmee, moved to nearby Clermont for the bulk of the schedule, before returning where the trip began. The Storm put up five runs apiece in the two wins over North Park and Sewanee, getting two complete game pitching performances from Taryan Barrick-Wessels and Kylee Tucker.

Game One: Simpson 5, North Park 3

After a scoreless first inning, freshman Cameron Martin started the scoring for the Storm, smashing her first career home run, a solo shot down the left field line, to put the Storm up 1-0.

Starting pitcher Barrick-Wessels was sharp early, striking out three batters after three innings and throwing five scoreless innings to start the game.

Martin had the best hitting performance of her young career, coming back up to the plate in the top of the third inning to rip a two-run single into left center field, giving the Storm a 3-0 lead. The Storm added a run after Ashlyn Steen executed a squeeze play to perfection, scoring Rylee Purvis from third base.

The Storm continued to threaten to extend the lead and in the top of the fifth, they did just that. Caroline Pellett, on the bases as a pinch runner, tacked on another run for Simpson after Megan Heidelbauer put a ball in play, forcing the Vikings (2-7-1) to throw to first for the out, sacrificing the run.

The Storm seemed to appear to be cruising, but back-to-back errors in the bottom of the sixth put baserunners on second and third for the Vikings. The next batter up knocked a base hit through an infield gap and suddenly the Vikings had life, cutting the lead to 5-2. Barrick-Wessels managed to remain poised after the two unearned runs, getting out of the inning without any further damage.

The bottom of the seventh looked like a formality for the Storm to close it, with Barrick-Wessels and the defense retiring the first two batters. But suddenly, a solo shot cut the lead to 5-3. That was followed up by a double, giving the Vikings the tying run at the plate. However, a beautiful backhand stop and throw by Alexis Ehlers sealed the game for the Storm, ending the hopes of a comeback for the Vikings.

Game Two: Simpson 5, Sewanee 1

Of all the fast starts the Storm have had, the bottom of the first inning in game two was arguably the best. The Storm's first five batters reached, highlighted by Luderman's three-run blast to right field. Karlie Hill singled and advanced to third after another double by Martin. Ehlers then hit a deep sacrifice fly to score Hill, giving the Storm a 4-0 lead after the first inning.

Tucker got the start in game two and was cruising through the early innings, retiring eight of the first 10 batters she faced. The Storm tacked on another run in the bottom of the fourth, started by a leadoff double from Kriegel. Luderman hit a ball that was difficult for the second baseman, who was able to snag it, but her throw was well off, allowing Kriegel to score and make it 5-0.

Despite the error, relief pitcher Hanna Hollis pitched well for the Tigers (6-18), throwing four innings and giving up no earned runs. The problem for the Tigers is that they still could not solve Tucker. The only run the Tigers scored came off a two-out error. The Tigers had runners on first and second and had a base hit into left field, but the Storm committed a throwing error, allowing the runner to score, despite Tucker getting the next batter out to limit the damage.

It was a more tame day offensively for the Storm. Despite 17 hits over the two games, the Storm left nine runners on base in each game. The Storm committed seven errors on the day, but a large portion occurred in just the one inning against North Park. As mentioned earlier, Barrick-Wessels and Tucker each threw complete games. Martin was one of the leading forces at the plate, collecting three hits and three RBIs from her first career Storm home run in game one. Luderman also collected three RBIs, leading the Storm with four hits.

Up Next

The Storm return to Iowa and will prepare for four games next weekend. Simpson takes on Greenville on Saturday in doubleheader action, before taking on Monmouth (Ill.) the next day, with both days slated to begin at 1 p.m.