The Buena Vista softball team split a pair of games on Saturday in St. Louis, Mo., as it began play at the two-day Mizuno Classic, hosted by Washington University. BVU began with a thrilling 9-6 win over the host Bears before falling 10-1 (6 inn.) to the Vikings.

Not many games would provide as much drama and excitement as the match-up against the Bears provided.  Wash U jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first and that's the way things stood until Haley Stevens belted her first career home run in the fifth to tie things at 1-1.

It remained tied heading into extra innings when the international rule went into effect starting with the eighth inning.  For each half inning, the team at bat would be forced to put the last out from the previous inning on second with no one out.

Neither team pushed across a run until BVU took its first lead of the contest in the 10th when Cortney Weaver drove in Lesa Turnquist on a bunt single.  The Bears, however, tied things back up in the bottom half with a sacrifice fly.

The Beavers appeared to be in control in the 11th, scoring three times to build a 5-2 lead.  Keely Bycroft provided an RBI single before she later scored all the way from second on a double steal.

Wash U was not done either, getting a 3-run double in the bottom half to again tie things up at 5-5.

Buena Vista made sure the Bears weren't going to rally in the 12th, getting a huge three-run home run from Marissa Schmidt to cap a four-run frame, giving BVU the 9-5 cushion.  The 18th-ranked Bears managed a run in the bottom half, but that was all as BVU won its third straight game.

Schmitt (2-for-5) was the only player to finish with multiple hits for the Beavers, as she drove in three runs and scored twice.  Hayden joined Bycroft, Stevens and Weaver with one RBI.

Moriah Guyett (3-1) pitched the final six innings to pick up her third win of the year.  She allowed five runs (two earned) while scattering four hits.  Jenna Falline got the start and pitched the first six frames, allowing just one run on five hits while walking two and striking out three.

The Beavers did not have much time to celebrate and reflect on the big win as it had to return to the field within 20 minutes and take on the 14th-ranked Vikings.

The momentum carried into the game as BVU got on the board first as Schmidtt singled in Hayden in the first for a 1-0 lead.

Augustana took its first lead in the third with a pair of runs before adding single runs in the fourth and fifth.  The Vikings then ended things in the sixth with six runs, capped by a game-ending three-run home run.

Schmitt (2-for-3) against tallied multiple hits as did Hayden (2-for-3).  Bycroft worked five innings and was charged with seven runs on eight hits before Guyett came on to work two-third of an inning and gave up three runs on two hits.

Buena Vista is back in action to close out the Classic on Sunday when it will again face the Vikings at 10:00am and sixth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan at 2:00pm.  Those will be the final two games before the team heads to Clermont, Fla., for its annual Spring Break trip beginning on Tuesday, March 24.