Storm blanks Fontbonne, stays alive in NCAA Tourney

INDIANOLA, Iowa - Whitney Oviatt (Carnation, Wash./Cedarcrest) and Jessica Toyne (Bellevue, Neb./East) combined for a two-hit shutout as Simpson avoided elimination with an 11-0 win against Fontbonne in the Indianola Regional of the 2010 NCAA Division III Softball Championship on Friday.

Sophomore designated player Veronica Roshek (Urbandale, Iowa/Johnston) had three hits and scored twice for the third-seeded Storm (32-11), who advanced to Saturday with the five-inning win.

Simpson will play at Noon against the loser of Friday's game between No. 1-seed Linfield and No. 4-seed Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

The Iowa Conference Pitcher of the Year, Oviatt (23-6) allowed only one hit in four innings of work. Toyne struck out a batter and allowed a hit, pitching the final inning.

The sixth-seeded Griffins (24-17) bowed out of the tournament, their first loss coming to second-seeded Illinois Wesleyan on Thursday.

Simpson took advantage of four Griffin errors on the day, scoring four unearned runs. Three errors came as part of a four-run third inning.

Allie Hock (Lawrence, Kan./Free State) drove in two runs with a single down the right field line in the fifth inning, putting the finishing touches shortened contest.

Tomorrow's game can be heard on www.kedb.fm, and live stats for all tournament games are available on www.simpson.edu/livestats.