Baseball | 2/28/2020 9:49:00 AM

STORM LAKE, Iowa (February 28, 2020) - The Buena Vista University baseball team picked up three wins to start its 2020 season last weekend against Hamline University down at the Bettis Sports Complex in Topeka, Kan., and now the Beavers will make a return trip to that same location this weekend for four-game series against Grinnell College.

THE MATCH-UP
Saturday, February 29 | Topeka, Kan.
Buena Vista (3-0) vs. Grinnell College (0-0)  |  12 p.m. (DH) | Bettis Sports Complex

Sunday, March 1 | Topeka, Kan.
Buena Vista (3-0) vs. Grinnell College (0-0)  |  11 a.m. (DH) | Bettis Sports Complex

LAST TIME OUT
Buena Vista swept a three-game weekend series from February 22-23 against Hamline University down in Topeka, Kan.  The Beavers won in walk-off fashion (9-8) in the opener, by a 16-5 score in the middle game, and got a go-ahead two-run homerun from junior Nick Henrichs in the fourth inning during Sunday's finale, to win 4-2.  It was a solid opening weekend at the plate for the team, as it chalked up 43 hits and 29 runs over the three games while hitting .355 overall.

ABOUT GRINNELL 
The Pioneers are opening their 2020 campaign this weekend under coach Tim Hollibaugh, who's entering his 26th season at the helm.  The team is coming off a 14-20 season in 2019 where it finished 8-8 in the Midwest Conference standings.  A veteran pitching staff does return this season led by two-time All-Midwest Conference selection, Brock Weirather, who finished last season at 2-1 with a 2.98 ERA and 42 strikeouts while starting seven games.  Sam LaMotte is also back after leading all pitchers in starts (8) and wins (4-4) despite a 6.75 ERA.   The staff had an 8.28 ERA for the year while pitching 262 innings.  At the plate, the Pioneers hit .273 with 57 doubles and 17 home runs but did strikeout 237 times and were outscored by nearly 100 total runs.  Two of the team's top-four hitters from last season are back in the line-up for the 2020 campaign.  Utility infielder, Riley Guieb, was second on the team a year ago with a .318 average, tied for the team lead in hits (34), and led in both runs (23) and stolen bases (11-for-12).  Outfielder, Jack Hager, was third a year ago in average (.308), second in hits (33), tied for first in doubles (10) and finished second in RBI (21).  Grinnell has made the MWC Tournament in 11 of the past 12 years.

ABOUT BUENA VISTA
The Beavers continue to receive votes in the first regular season D3baseball.com poll after going 3-0 last weekend against the Pipers to begin the season.  The team has a balanced and veteran line-up which had seven players record at least four hits during the opening series.  Junior Nick Henrichs led that group with a team-high six, including four that went for extra-bases.  He is the reigning A-R-C Position Player of the Week for his performance.  Freshman Zack Beekmann had a strong collegiate debut by going 5-for-13 with a pair of doubles, a home run and three RBI.  Senior Bryce Rheault, a preseason All-American, also had five hits and moves to within 15 of 200 for his career.  He's currently seventh on the program's all-time list.  Senior Tyler Tennyson also provided some power with a pair of home runs and four RBI.  Through three games, the Beavers already have five home runs and 20 extra-base hits.  They also had some strong pitching performances across the staff, including freshman Mason Gehling, who made his collegiate debut with a start in game two versus Hamline.  He went the first five innings, allowed just one run and struck out six to earn the win.  Devon Van Houten worked three scoreless innings of relief.  Gage Smart, the team's other preseason All-American, picked up his first save of the year to close out the weekend, giving him 12 in his career.  The team has seven pitchers with at least three innings pitched after one weekend, with the staff posting a 4.33 ERA over 27 innings.  It also has 29 strikeouts, despite issuing 16 walks.

NEXT UP
Following this weekend's four-game set with the Pioneers, the Beavers will be off until heading down to Tucson, Ariz., for its annual spring trip.  The team will play a total of seven games in five days in the desert from March 12-17.