The dreadful weather inclement weather didn’t stop the Simpson baseball team from winning two of three games against Cornell on April 13 and 14.

The doubleheader began at 5 p.m. on Friday afternoon and the teams completed the series with a nine-inning game Saturday at 11 a.m. Simpson baseball split with Cornell on Friday afternoon and the team took an 11-6 win over Cornell on Saturday.

Even though the weather was not terrific, head baseball coach Ben Blake was pleased with his team’s performance last weekend.

“This weekend all of our pitchers threw well, but we only gave them run support in two of the three games,” Blake said. “Offensively, we had help from a bunch of guys. Junior Tyler Crandell, senior Grant Thomas and sophomore Michael Chia continued to swing it well, but it was senior Colton Calvert and junior Ethan Hale finally coming along (that) were big keys to this weekend.”

Blake was not the only person who thought the team excelled.

“I thought our pitchers did well,“ Thomas said. “Sophomore Aaron Young started the first game and threw a great game, but we could not get a win for him. Senior Kyle Ruehle came out in game two and threw a one-hitter. (Senior) Chris Dorff started game three and gave us seven solid innings, and (junior) Jose Rodriguez came in and closed it down.”

Preparations for the upcoming games are in full swing after the past week. Although the team did well, it knows there is always room for improvement.

“After this weekend, our team will be doing the typical to get ready for the upcoming games such as working on fielding and working on taking productive at bats,” Thomas said.

The Storm baseball team will be in action again on April 20th at 6 p.m. when they host Buena Vista in a three-game series.

Preparations for the team include both physical and mental training. Physical includes practicing with ground balls, fly balls, and swings along with game simulations. For mental prep the team aims to get a good night’s sleep.

“I end every practice the day before a game by telling the team to have productive at-bats,” Thomas said.

Expectations are set high for the Simpson baseball team both by the coaches and the players. Blake predicts the next two home series versus Buena Vista and Wartburg to be competitive.

“We are 8-7 in the conference with nine games to play, and the league is very competitive from top to bottom,” Blake said.