Four teams in the Iowa Conference are ranked, and two of them battled for a combined 16 innings in the IIAC softball opener Wednesday.

In the first game of Wednesday’s recap the Storm fell to the Central Dutch in a wild extra inning thriller, 6-5.

The Storm started off with a fast start after infielder Kylie Van Houten doubled to right center to give the Storm an early 2-0 lead. Freshmen catcher Tori Hagg finished the Storm’s charge with a RBI ground out to which gave the Storm 3-0 lead after three innings.

Central responded with a run in the top of the second inning and continued to rally with a three run sixth inning after third baseman Whitney Sowers to left field to give the Dutch a 4-3 lead. Central college homered in the top of the seventh inning to boost their lead 5-3 but that wouldn’t last for long. The Storm answered with a rally in the bottom of the seventh inning after pinch hitter Rachel Guessford homered to tie the game 5-5. Guessford came into the at-bat with one hit, which was also a homerun.

Both teams went scoreless until the 11th inning after Dutch center fielder Paige Heesch reached base on a fielder’s choice to give the Dutch a 6-5 lead. After a two-out double by senior right fielder Chelsea Wineguard in the bottom of the inning, the Storm could not capitalize after Van Houten popped up as the Storm fell 6-5.

In the night cap of the doubleheader the Storm fell 12-3 to the Dutch in five innings. The Dutch were led by Caitlyn Meyer who 5-5 with three RBI’s and a double. Sophmore infielder Ashley Prettyman and Junior infielder Hillary Harmon led the charge for the Storm with two hits apiece.

After pitching 11 innings in the first game of the doubleheader, Senior pitcher Kacee Arey pitched the second game of the night cap but fell to 16-4 on the season after allowing two runs in the first inning. Sophomore catcher Stacie Brown also drove in two runs, which saw the Storm fall to 21-5 to start conference play.

The Storm will travel to the University of Dubuque to continue conference play Apr. 6. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.