Box Score
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa— In its first game of the Iowa Conference tournament, third-seeded Wartburg (23-18 overall) defeated sixth-seeded Simpson (18-23) 6-3 Thursday afternoon.

The Knights took the early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first as junior Andrew Krehbiel (Donnellson) hit a leadoff double and scored on the next batter, classmate Ryan Doty (Dubuque) brought him in with his single to left field.

Krehbiel tallied his second hit of the day in his next at-bat in the second inning as he drove in sophomore Jake Raecker (Urbandale) and junior Levi Montague (Norway).

Montague recorded his second hit in the third as he drove in sophomore Michael Schinstock (Dyersville) with his RBI single.

The Storm brought the score within one as they plated two runs off three hits and an error.

Sophomore Ryan Powers (Wheatland) helped the Knights extend their lead in the fifth as he hit a leadoff triple and then later scored on a wild pitch to make the score 5-3.

Stenberg scored in the seventh as Raecker hit a bloop single to shallow right field. The Orange and Black extended their margin to three (6-3).

Junior Scott Benson (Reinbeck) pitched his sixth complete game of the year and struck out 12 in the outing, just one shy of his career-high.

Wartburg will now face Coe, the No. 2 seed, at 4 p.m.