Softball gets two key wins

by Sara Sonderman

The Simpson Storm softball squad pulled together this past weekend and won two crucial games against Luther College.

“Those two games were the most important ones we have had so far,” junior Aimee Walther said. “Luther was ahead of us in conference standing so we really needed to get those victories.”

The Storm carried their momentum and liveliness with them to Saturday’s games, after an energetic performance at Friday night’s Lip Sync contest where they received second place.

“We were all pretty wired after Friday night’s experience, but we played with more heart than we have all year against Luther,” sophomore Michelle Montgomery said.

In the opening game the Storm won 9-2 over the Norse. Sophomore Alexis Quijano went 2-4 and also had a pair of RBI’s. Junior catcher Amanda Pilcher also contributed two RBI’s and went 2-3 on the game and sophomore Krista Schuur had a pair of hits. Junior Amy Kulisky picked up the victory for the Storm pitching a complete game and striking out 10 batters while walking only one.

“We have been hitting the ball all year long, but now we are making the hits at the right time when people are on base.” Walther said.

In the second game of the day, sophomore Meghan Kelso was the lone Storm player to get two hits. Fellow sophomore Lyndsy Owen pitched all seven innings for Simpson, striking out seven batters and only walking one.

The Storm is 19-7 overall and have a 5-3 record in conference.

“This year’s conference is so messed up,” Montgomery said. “There has been a lot of upsets and nobody has much of an edge over anyone else.”

The Storm travels to Upper Iowa on Saturday for a conference double-header before they take a week off for final examinations.