MANKATO, Minn. (March 19, 2022) - The Buena Vista baseball team scored multiple runs in four of the final five innings of the nightcap which sent the Beavers to a 13-5 victory over host Bethany Lutheran on Saturday after the Vikings had edged BVU in the opener, 5-1.

After BLC grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first, BVU went ahead for good with a pair of runs in the third before opening things up with two more in the fifth, followed by three runs in the sixth, seventh and ninth.  The Vikings managed to push across three runs in the sixth and their final one in the seventh.

Drew Taylor, Jordan Mathewson and Kyler Corcoran each tallied three hits apiece with all three chalking up one for extra bases.  Joel Garcia doubled for one of his two hits and drove in a game-high four runs.  Morgan Smith got the start on the mound and gave the Beavers a strong outing with six innings of work, allowing four runs (three earned) and six hits while striking out nine.  Devon Van Houten pitched 0.2 innings before Spencer Holmes worked the final 2.1 and struck out five.

The Vikings scored in each of the first three innings of the opener and that was all they needed en route to the four-run victory.  They jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first off starter Mark Eddie as the first three batters singled, including an RBI infield hit on the final one.  Two batters later, the team scored the second run on a wild pitch.  BLC took advantage of three walks in the second to push across the third run before it used a pair of extra-base hits in the fourth to build a 4-0 cushion.  BVU got on the board in the fourth on a Calvin Harris RBI single but that was the one real threat the team had.

BVU finished with nine hits overall but just one for extra-bases and left nine runners on base.  The Vikings had seven base knocks and left just five runners stranded.

Eddie pitched 5.0 innings, allowed four runs and six hits and struck out five.  Dalton Glenn allowed just one run and one hit over the final three frames while striking out two.  Zack Beekmann's double was the team's lone extra-base hit as he finished 2-for-4 with the run scored.  Jordan Mathewson also had two hits as did Logan Mueller. 

Buena Vista is now 8-6 on the year and gets set to begin American Rivers Conference play next weekend with a three-game series at Central College (9-1).  Game one is scheduled for Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. while Saturday's DH will begin at 12:00 p.m.