In its 18th NCAA Tournament appearance, Simpson College softball has made history yet again in its 2026 season. 

The Storm won its NCAA Regional in dramatic fashion for the first time since 1999, and will now head to a Super Regional for the first time in program history. 

The NCAA Regional started Thursday, May 14, in Indianola. The Storm, as the host, was the No. 1 seed in its bracket and defeated the No. 4 Greenville University Panthers 4-0 in their first game.

They then advanced to the tournament semifinals and faced the No. 2 St. Benedict-Bennies. Storm struck first with a home run from Megan Heidelbauer in the top of the first inning. However, the Bennies gave the Storm a run for their money, tying the game in the bottom of the third and then scoring five on the Storm in the bottom of the fifth. 

Just when it appeared the game was coming to a close for the Storm, with only three outs to spare, Simpson answered back in the top of the seventh, scoring a remarkable 11 unanswered runs, to win the game 12-6

Saturday, May 16, the Storm faced St. Benedict once again, as the Bennies beat No. 3 Central College in the elimination game. 

Since Simpson had no losses and the Bennies had one, the Storm only needed to win once to claim the NCAA Regional title in the double-elimination tournament.

The first pitch from Emma LaFave was released just before 11 a.m. Similar to the semifinal matchup, Storm scored first in the first inning with an RBI single from Katie Shaner. 

The Bennies tied the game in the fourth and then added two insurance runs in the fifth, extending the lead to 3-1. Simpson battled hard, earning a run in the bottom of the fifth after Shaner, who was on first base, taunted the catcher into an intentional pick off to score Heidelbauer, who stood at third. 

St. Benedict answered back, scoring one more run in the top of the seventh and extending there lead to 4-2.

With three outs left in the seventh, Brynn Ortlund singled to third base and Gracie Bruening reached safely on a fielder’s choice, advancing Ortlund to second on a fielder’s error.

Down by two, with a runner in scoring position and on first, the American Rivers Conference Player of the Year and two-time All-American, Ashlyn Steen, entered the batter’s box. Instead of swinging the bat, Steen attempted to lay down a bunt. On a controversial call from the home plate umpire, Steen was called out for making illegal contact with the ball. 

With one out, Heidelbauer singled up the middle, scoring Ortlund. Bruening rounded second base but did not reach third base successfully as St. Benedict’s center fielder threw her out. 

Simpson only needed one more run to tie the game as Mackenzie James went up to bat with Heidelbauer on second base. 

After fighting off multiple pitches, James popped up, ending the game and sending Simpson to an elimination game. 

As the humidity and stakes rose for the day, pitcher Marina Cronin entered the circle. 

The game started slowly, with both sides combined only recording one hit until St. Benedict scored two in the bottom of the third. 

A runner wouldn’t cross home plate for Simpson until the sixth inning after an RBI single from Heidelbauer, leaving Simpson trailing only by one.

The rally hats were on for the Storm as they entered the top of the seventh inning. Down one with only three outs to spare, fans were on the edge of their seats on both sides.

After the Bennies made two throwing errors, Storm had runners on first and second. However, with a groundout and a pop-up, the Storm were down to their last out of the season.

With fans now standing, Caelynn Obleton singled up the middle, scoring Addison Gookin. The game was tied 3-3, but the Storm were not done yet.

Ortlund singled to left field, scoring Abigail Rouse, taking the lead for the first time in the game with a score of 4-3.

Head Coach Brent Matthias jumped across the infield ecstatically, waving the crowd on and encouraging them to get louder as he and the team headed into the bottom of the seventh. 

But the last three outs of the game would not come easily for the Storm. 

In a true nail-biter fashion, St. Benedict was able to position runners on first and second before Simpson could record an out. Cronin, who pitched the entire duration of the game, struck out a batter and then held the next batter to an infield ground ball hit directly to Heidelbauer at first base. 

After a nine-pitch at-bat, Cronin walked a player, loading the bases for St. Benedict. The tension at Simpson’s softball field was palpable.

With nowhere to put a runner and two outs, the game came down to the final batter. St. Benedict would either walk off the championship game, or Storm would get an out, saving their comeback. 

St. Benedict’s first baseman entered the box. With a 1-1 count, she hit the ball right back to Cronin on the mound. Cronin fielded the ball and threw it back to the catcher, Bruening, covering home plate, recording the final out and sending the Storm to the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time in school history.

The Storm, one of 16 teams left to hunt for the national championship, is set to play in the best-of-three Super Regional series against Saint Mary’s University (Minn.). The Cardinals were ranked 11th in the NPI Ranking at the end of the regular season and eighth in the NFCA/Gorout Top 25 Coaches Poll. 

The Storm is familiar with the Cardinals, having faced and been eliminated by them in last year’s NCAA Tournament Regional finals.

Super Regionals are set to begin Thursday, May 21, and the winner will advance to the College World Series.

05/17 UPDATE:

The Storm are packing their bags and heading to Winona, Minn. to face off against the Saint Mary’s Cardinals.

They will play Thursday, May 21, at 2 p.m. and again on Friday, May 22 at 1 p.m. They will play a third and final game on Friday, if necessary, at 3:30 p.m.

The Cardinal’s campus is approximately 270 miles away from Simpson, and roughly a four hour drive.

In a Instagram post shared by the softball team on May 17, they asked for help from fans and families to make the away game feel like a Simpson, home event.

The Storm will need to win twice in order to advance to the College World Series.

*Editors note: The original story has been corrected to clarify that the Simpson softball team will not be hosting the NCAA Super Regional.