The Nebraska Wesleyan University softball team made a late push in the final inning of both games of a doubleheader, but came up one run short in each game as Simpson College swept a pair of games from NWU, winning 7-6, and 6-5 on Wednesday (Mar. 25) in Indianola, Iowa.

The Prairie Wolves have now dropped five straight games to fall to 9-9 overall on the season.

NWU found themselves in a deep hole early in both games of the doubleheader. In the first game, the Storm scored one in the first then exploded for six runs in the bottom of the second inning to jump out to a 7-0 lead.

The Prairie Wolves would not give up as they would score three runs in the top of the sixth inning, and three more in the top of the seventh but they could not quite make it all the way back. In the sixth, NWU had five hits including a two-run double by Bailee Holt and RBI single by Jamie Jaques. In the seventh, Jenna Turner hit a two-run home run and Ashley Stang had an RBI single, but the Prairie Wolves left the tying run on base.

In the second game, Simpson led 5-0 after three innings and held NWU scoreless through six innings. Once again, the Prairie Wolves put together another last inning rally in the top of the seventh.

The big hit of the inning was a three-run home run by Jenna Turner, her second home run of the doubleheader. Turner led the NWU offense going 2-4 with three RBI and Megan Beckstead was a perfect 3-3.

Nebraska Wesleyan will now be off until April 1 when they return to conference action to face Midland Lutheran in Fremont, Neb.