Simpson rides Oviatt's arm to wins against St. Norbert, UW-River Falls

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Whitney Oviatt struck out 14 batters and allowed only one earned run in 12 innings of work Wednesday at the Rebel Spring Games, picking up a pair of wins as the Simpson softball team closed Spring Break with a 3-2 win against St. Norbert and a 3-1 win over Wisconsin-River Falls.

Simpson closed the tournament on a three-game winning streak to reach a final tally of 6-3 in Florida. The Storm (9-6) begin their home schedule Sunday, March 28 with a doubleheader against Wisconsin-Eau Claire at 2 p.m.

Oviatt began her day with a dominating performance against St. Norbert. She held the Green Knights scoreless through six innings until surrending a pair of runs in the seventh.

But the late runs didn't factor into the outcome, as the Storm offense built a three-run cushion in the first two innings. Keri Sorensen and Kelsie Host each drove in a run for Simpson and Host led the way with two hits.

In the second game of the day, the action happened early and it happened late, as UW-River Falls took a 1-0 lead in the first inning by stealing home.

The score remained 1-0 until the Simpson half of the sixth.

In the sixth, Tieryn Potratz tied things up with her third home run of the young season. The game-winning run came courtesy of Veronika Roshek, who singled and came around to score on a double off the red-hot bat of Allie Hock. A sacrifice fly from Host gave Oviatt an insurance run - although it wouldn't be necessary.

The senior struck out two of the three batters she faced in the bottom of the seventh, retiring the side in order.