TUCSON, Ariz. - A strong spring trip for the Buena Vista softball team came to a close on Tuesday afternoon with an 8-4 win over Hamline followed by a thrilling 5-2 victory over UW-Platteville.

The Beavers started fast against the Pipers, plating four runs in the bottom of the opening frame, and then needed three more runs in the sixth to put the game away.

Kate Lesmeister, who's had a great trip at the plate, drove home the first run with an RBI single up the middle.  After Ashtyn Miller was later hit by a pitch with the bases load for a 2-0 lead, the Beavers closed the inning with RBI singles from Savanna Pohlmann and Mckynze Hansen.

Hamline trimmed the BVU lead down to 4-3 with three runs in the third and later tied it at 4-4 by pushing across a run in the fifth.

BVU regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Miller picked up her second RBI of the game with a single back up the middle.  She then went back to the mound and worked a perfect sixth to allow her offense to go back to work, and it chalked up three runs in the frame.  Lesmeister capped that scoring with a big two-run single to right for the four-run cushion.

Miller worked another perfect inning in the seventh en route to her second career complete-game.  She scattered six hits, walked just one and struck out four, while improving to 3-0 on the season.

Lesmeister finsihed 2-for-4 at the plate with three RBI and a run scored.  Pohlmann and Hansen also chipped in with two hits as BVU pounded out 13 singles in the game.

It was a scoreless game against the Pioneers until Taylor Frain put down a nice squeeze bunt that plated the game's first run in the top of the fourth.  A wild pitch and an RBI single then put UW-P in front for the first time at 2-1 in the fifth.

BVU, however, turned right around in the sixth and grabbed the lead back for good.  A throwing error tied the game at 2-2 before Pohlmann laced a single to left to score Taylor Frain and give the Beavers a 3-2 lead.  

UW-P left a pair of runners stranded on base in the bottom half as it looked to rally late.  The Beavers then tacked on a pair of big insurance runs in the seventh with an RBI single from Brook Linderman as well as from Carmen Morrison.

Freshman Peyton Gross worked around a leadoff bloop single in the bottom half to secure the win and improve to 7-0 in her young career.  It was her second complete-game of the season, as she allowed just the two runs on five hits and struck out six.

Buena Vista has now won five straight games and 11 of its last 12 and is 12-4 overall.  The Beavers will now return to Storm Lake and are scheduled to host the College of St. Benedict on Saturday afternoon for a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m.  There's a strong possibility the games will be held inside of J. Leslie Rollins Stadium so stay tuned to bvuathletics.com for further updates as we get closer.