Jake Hadaway pitched seven innings, allowing just two unearned runs, and the Buena Vista baseball team scored three runs in the seventh inning to help lift it to a thrilling 4-2 victory against Luther College in the Iowa Conference opener for both teams played in Tucson, Ariz., on Friday afternoon.

Trailing 2-1, Kolby Hilgenberg tied things up with an RBI double in the seveth before Noah Paper and Devin Wagenman each followed with RBI singles an a 4-2 lead.

Hadaway then turned things over to Gage Smart for the final two frames, and the freshman worked around a pair of walks by chalking up two strikeouts to earn his second save of the year.  Hadaway scattered seven hits, walked one and struck out four while improving to 3-1 overall.

BVU took advantage of a pair of Luther defensive miscues in the first inning to grab a quick 1-0 lead.  The Norse evened the game with a run in the fifth before getting an unearned run in the sixth for their first lead.

Hilgenberg and Paper each tallied a pair of base knocks for BVU with Hilgenberg also scoring twice.  The Beavers held a slim8-7 edge in total hits.

Buena Vista improves to 8-6 overall (1-0 IIAC).  The two sides will wrap up the opening series with a doubleheader on Saturday with game one scheduled for first pitch at 10:00am MST.