Baseball | 5/7/2021 10:05:00 AM
STORM LAKE, Iowa (May 7, 2021) - The Buena Vista baseball team returns home on Friday afternoon to host Central College in a doubleheader to begin a four-game weekend series. It will be the final homestand of the season for BVU.
THE MATCH-UP
Who: Central College (12-18, 9-15 A-R-C) @ Buena Vista (14-18, 10-14 A-R-C)
When: Friday, May 7, 2021 (DH) & Sunday, May 9, 2021 (DH)
Where: Storm Lake, Iowa | BVU / SL HS Baseball Complex
INSIDE THE SERIES
The two teams first began playing back in 1955 with Friday marking the 149th and 150th meetings all-time...BVU is 33-18 against the Dutch since 2006 and is 15-4 in games played in Storm Lake during that stretch...The Beavers took 2-of-3 over Central in 2019 and is 10-4 against the Dutch over the last three seasons (the teams did not play in 2020 due to COVID-19)...BVU has won five of the last 7 games played in the series in Storm Lake.
ABOUT THE DUTCH
Central rebounded from a series-opening 13-1 loss to Nebraska Wesleyan last weekend to win the final three games of the series. Prior to that, it had dropped five of its previous six overall which included a series split with Dubuque and a series loss to Loras. During conference play, the Dutch are last in the A-R-C with a .254 batting average and are putting up just 3.7 runs per contest over the first 24 games. Lucas Farren is hitting a team-high .307 against league foes to this point with Landon Vander Leest right behind at .305. The team has 37 extra-base hits in conference play, including nine from Farren, who has five doubles, a pair of triples and two home runs. Trevor Kimm has driven in 14 runs and also walked 11 times. As a staff, the Dutch hold a 5.82 ERA over 181 innings of work. Ryan Riddle has made six starts with Vander Leest following with five. Vander Fleest is 2-3 with a 3.75 ERA during 24.0 innings while Riddle is 3-1 with a 4.39 ERA and 37 strikeouts during 41.0 innings.
ABOUT BVU
The Beavers come in as winners of five of their last seven contests. The team had dropped 11 of 12 outings before taking 2-of-3 games in Storm Lake over top-ranked Washington University-St. Louis and then going on the road last weekend to win 3-of-4 at the University of Dubuque. Both Mathewson brothers enter the series ranked in the top-11 of the league in hitting during conference play. Caden sits eighth with a .385 average with Jordan close behind at .370. Jordan's 34 hits sit eighth while his 8 doubles are fifth-most.
Parker Truesdell is right behind Jordan in the league in average at .366. As a team, the Beavers are hitting .301 through 24 games which ranks fourth. The pitching has been much improved over those last two series.
Tyler Tennyson is among the conference leaders with a 3.00 ERA in conference play which ranks fifth. He has three complete games in his six starts while striking out 27 and walking only seven.
ON DECK: The Beavers will conclude the series on Sunday afternoon with a doubleheader before going on the road to conclude the regular season with a four-game set at Nebraska Wesleyan next Thursday and Friday (May 13 & 14).
