Cagley, Thomas lead Storm to sweep of Wartburg

INDIANOLA, Iowa – Behind a big day at the plate from Nate Cagley and another dominant outing from Charlie Thomas, the Simpson College baseball team secured a doubleheader sweep of Wartburg.

Thomas struck out 11 across seven innings in game one, while Cagley went 6-for-8 with five RBIs to lead the Storm (17-9, 8-3 A-R-C) to their third series victory in American Rivers Conference play. Simpson took the opener 5-1 and responded to an early deficit in game two with a dominant offensive showing, scoring 13 unanswered runs to complete the sweep.

The Storm extend their win streak to four games and have won seven of their last eight.

GAME ONE SUMMARY

• The Storm broke through in the third inning, scoring three runs behind RBI singles from Trenten Kingrey and Nate Cagley. Simpson added to its lead in the fourth on a solo home run from Sam Campin and pushed it to 5-0 in the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Bryson Gibson.
• Charlie Thomas (5-0) set the tone on the mound, tossing seven innings while allowing just one unearned run on four hits and striking out 11 without issuing a walk. Wartburg's lone run came in the seventh, but Simpson responded by closing out the game with two scoreless innings from Jake Edenburn.

GAME ONE STARS

• Charlie Thomas: 7.0 IP, 11 strikeouts, 4 hits, 0 earned runs
• Jake Edenburn: 2.0 IP, 3 strikeouts, 2 hits, 0 runs
• Nate Cagley: 3 hits, 2 RBI
• Sam Campin: 1 home run
• Trenten Kingrey: 2 hits, 1 double, 1 RBI, 1 run

GAME TWO SUMMARY

• Wartburg (13-11, 4-8 A-R-C) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, but the Storm quickly answered. Tyson McAlexander drove in a run in the second before Simpson erupted for seven runs in the third inning to take control.
• Trenten Kingrey started the rally with an RBI double, and Nate Cagley followed with a two-RBI single to give Simpson the lead. Dalton Ferrin added an RBI walk, and the Storm capitalized on a wild pitch and an error to extend the advantage to 8-3.
• Simpson continued to add on in the sixth, plating four more runs behind RBI hits from Cagley, Ferrin and McAlexander, along with another run scoring on a wild pitch. Ferrin delivered again in the eighth with an RBI single to cap the scoring and end the game.
• Cagley led the offense with three hits and three RBIs, while Ferrin also drove in three runs. Drew Carlson and Bryson Gibson each added three hits as the Storm finished with 16 hits in the win.

GAME TWO STARS

• Nate Cagley: 3 hits, 3 RBI, 2 runs, 1 walk
• Dalton Ferrin: 2 hits, 3 RBI, 2 runs, 1 walk
• Tyson McAlexander: 2 hits, 2 RBI
• Jack Shaffer: 6.0 IP, 3 strikeouts

UP NEXT
The series continues tomorrow with a single game beginning at 1 p.m.