Storm softball pushes win streak to four

CLERMONT, Fla. – For the second day in a row, the Simpson College softball team swept its opponents at The Spring Games. The Storm started the day with a come-from-behind 4-3 win over Defiance and used that momentum to top Wisconsin Lutheran 12-6 later in the afternoon.

Simpson (8-2) returns to action on Thursday with afternoon games against Lasell and Hamline at 2:30 and 3:45 p.m., respectively.

Game 1: Simpson 4, Defiance 3
The Storm had to battle back into the game after a pair of home runs put the Yellow Jackets (3-4) ahead 2-0 in the second. Kate Kriegel drew a bases-loaded walk to cut the deficit in half in the fourth, and Taryan Barrick-Wessels scored two with a single to right to push Simpson ahead by one in the fifth. Kriegel added another RBI shortly after with a base hit up the middle.

Defiance had three of its 10 hits in the seventh inning, but the Storm defense allowed just one run to score as they held on for the win.

Barrick-Wessels (4-1) earned the complete game victory and had a career-high nine strikeouts.

Game 2: Simpson 12, Wisconsin Lutheran 6
Simpson fell behind by two once more but Randie Richmond erased the deficit with a two-run single in the top of the second. The Storm went ahead 4-2 in the following inning and exploded for eight runs in the sixth with the help of three extra-base hits. Megan Crockett and Summer Pasutti put five runs on the board with home runs, Olivia Allen tripled, and Alexis Ehlers and Mackenzie DePhillips brought runners home with singles.

After being held to just three hits in the opener, the Storm tallied a season-high 16 against the Warriors (5-3). Richmond, Crockett, and Ehlers all had multiple hits to lead the team, which had 24 players contribute in some capacity. Eighteen players had at least one at bat, 13 registered a hit, 11 scored, and six drove in a run. 

Richmond struck out three and picked up her second win of the season, allowing two runs on eight hits in 7.0 innings.