No. 17 Simpson makes history in sweep over Westminster

NORWALK, Iowa. - Simpson made history in its doubleheader sweep over Westminster, combining for a no-hitter in the opener before Ashlyn Steen became the program's all-time hits leader in game two.

Emma LaFave tossed four hitless innings before Taryn Fredrickson polished off the final three outs to combine for a team no-hitter. In the second game, Ashlyn Steen picked up her third hit of the day, and with that hit, became the program's all-time hits leader at 192, surpassing Tori Haag's record set from 2013-16.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Simpson quickly jumped on the Bluejays in the opening frame, dropping seven runs and batting around the order.
• RBI hits from Megan Heidelbauer, Mackenzie James, Brielyn Ginnaty, Caelynn Obleton, and Steen provided the run support.
• After a quiet second inning, Simpson continued to add on to the lead in the third, delivering another seven-run inning.
• Obleton and Steen got the scoring going with RBI extra base hits followed by Heidelbauer, James, Katie Shaner, and Ginnaty adding RBIs of their own.
• Behind a complete offensive day, LaFave went to work on the Bluejays' hitters. The righty allowed zero hits on one walk with seven punchouts.
• Fredrickson closed out the game for the Storm, facing the minimum three hitters and retiring them all to finish off the team no-hitter.

GAME ONE LEADERS

• Emma LaFave - 4 IP, W, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K
• Ashlyn Steen - 2-for-3, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 3B, 1 SB
• Megan Heidelbauer - 2-for-3, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 3B
• Mackenzie James - 2-for-3, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 3B, 1 SB

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• Leading off the bottom of the first, Steen delivered a triple into the gap, and in the process broke the all-time hits record with her 192 hit in a Storm uniform. Steen scored on an RBI single from Heidelbauer.
• In the fourth, Westminster collected its lone two runs of the day on an RBI double and error to take a 2-1 lead.
• Simpson tied up the game in the fifth on a RBI single from Ginnaty, plating James.
• It wasn't until the ninth inning when Simpson finally broke the tie on an RBI single from Kenna Rollinger to right center, scoring pinch runner Tatum Shepherd from second to wrap up the sweep.
• Marina Cronin pitched a clean five plus innings out of relief, allowing just four hits with no runs and seven strikeouts.

GAME TWO LEADERS

• Marina Cronin - 5.1 IP, W, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K
• Ashlyn Steen - 3-for-4, 2 3B, 1 R, 1 BB
• Gracie Bruening - 2-for-4, 1 BB
• Kenna Rollinger - 1-for-2, 1 GW RBI

UP NEXT
Simpson heads to Florida for the Spring Games in which the Storm will compete in 12 games over the week of action. The Storm start against Western New England at 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 14.