The Buena Vista softball team rallied back to force extra innings in game two on Sunday, but Central College scored a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to take the game and complete the sweep with a 7-6 victory.  The Dutch won the opener, 8-2.

Buena Vista jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning of game one, getting an RBI groundout by Marissa Schmidt before adding the second run on a fielding error by the Dutch second baseman.

Central, however came back with a big five-run second inning, scoring all five runs with two outs after the lead-off batter had reached on an error.  The Dutch then went on to add one more run in the third and two more in the sixth.

BVU was held to only two hits in the contest, getting a hit and run scored from Stephanie Hayden as well as a hit from Katie Yoder.  Jordon Pilcher came around to score the second run.

Central had three players with at least two hits, as the Dutch held a 13-2 advantage.

Jenna Falline suffered the loss on the mound for the Beavers, working two innings and allowing five unearned runs on eight hits.  Keely Bycroft went the final four and was charged with three runs on five hits while striking out three.

The Beavers tried to bounce back in game two and earn its fifth doubleheader split of the year.  They trailed 4-0 early on but would go on to score a pair of runs in the fifth inning thanks to a Bycroft two-run home run - her third round tripper of the year.  Central got one of the those runs back in the bottom half before adding another in the sixth for a 6-2 lead. 

That's when BVU came storming all the way back in the seventh inning to plate four runs and tie things up at 6-6.  The Beavers loaded the bases with no outs and scored the first run on a fielder's choice by pinch hitter Haley Stevens  Cortney Weaver's sacrifice fly made it a 6-4 contest with two outs before back-to-back RBI doubles from Hayden and Pilcher tied things up.

BVU threatened to take the lead in the ninth, getting runners to first and second and only one out, but a lineout into a double play ended the threat, and the Dutch came away with a walk-off bases loaded single with one out after a lead-off error started the rally.

The two teams combined for 23 hits in the contest, but BVU made four costly errors on the defensive side.

Pilcher, Schmidt, Bycroft and Cheyanne Boland each had two hits in the contest with Bycroft and Jeanne Bramhall each scoring two runs.

Moriah Guyett was the hard-luck loser on the mound for Buena Vista, going the distance and surrendering just three earned runs on 13 hits and striking out four.

Buena Vista is now 16-19-1 overall and finishes the confernece season at 6-8.  The Beavers will be the fifth seed in next weekend's Iowa Conference Tournament which will get underway on Friday in Decorah.  BVU will face fourth-seed Coe College at 1:00pm.

Prior to that event, however, BVU will conclude its regular season with a pair of non-conference home make-up games on Tuesday afternoon, April 28, against Grinnell College.  Game one of that doubleheader is scheduled to get underway at 4:30pm.