Written by Josh Garcia
BVU Sports Information Student Intern

STORM LAKE, Iowa (April 29, 2022) - The Buena Vista softball team heads to Waverly, Iowa on Saturday afternoon for a pivotal double header against Wartburg College. A sweep would earn the Beavers a share of the American Rivers Conference regular season conference title for the first time in over 25 years. 

THE MATCH-UP
Buena Vista (24-12, 8-6 A-R-C) @ Wartburg (23-10, 9-5 A-R-C)
Sunday May 1, 2022 | 1 p.m. | 3 p.m.
Lynes Field | Waverly, Iowa

BROADCAST INFO
Live Video: https://livestream.com/wartburgknightvision/softball2022

LAST TIME OUT

The Beavers split a double header against Nebraska Wesleyan on Tuesday. BVU picked up the game one win in a 1-0 pitcher's duel. Senior Ashtyn Miller carried a no hitter into the 5th en route to a one hit, four-walk, 8-strikeout complete game shutout. The dominant performance marked her 11th win of the season. BV's only run came courtesy of a RBI single from Nattie Murillo. Game two saw BV take an early 6-2 lead after 4 innings before the Prairie Wolves would come back to stun the Beavers with a walk-off grand slam in the 7th for a final score of 8-6. Miller was charged with the loss. BV received multi-RBI performances from Murillo, Chloe Wells, and Savanna Pohlmann. Wells' homerun marked in her 3rd homerun in the past 4 games. Pohlmann's homerun marked her 2nd in the past 4 games. 

ABOUT WARTBURG

The Knights enter Saturday's matchup in contention for an American Rivers Conference regular season title. A split would earn them a share of the title with Dubuque while a sweep would earn them an outright title. Their last time out they swept a double header at St. Catherine's University in St. Paul, Minnesota. Offense was in abundance for the Knights as they won 9-1 in game one and 18-6 in game two. The team was originally scheduled to play again the next day in a double header against Bethel University, but the contests ended up being cancelled. 

As a squad, the Knights are second with 99 runs scored during conference play and are first in the following categories:

Average: .359
Hits: 142
Homeruns: 19
Slugging %: 0.566
Stolen bases: 35 (40 attempts)
Sacrifice flies: 11

The Knights will rely on a dangerous offense to make up for a pitching staff that enters the double header with a conference ERA of 6.60. The mark ranks last by nearly a run. The long ball has plagued the staff, having allowed 16 in 14 conference games. They enter as the only team to not record a shutout in conference play. Olivia Brecht is leading the team during conference play with a .452 average, 19 hits, six doubles, three homeruns and 15 RBI. Following Brecht is Sydney Illg. Illg has hit 0.400 while recording 18 hits, 1 double, 4 homeruns, and 11 RBI. Ella Link leads all teams with 7 homeruns during conference play. In 7 starts, Ashley Nelson has been the team's best pitcher going 4-2 with a 4.98 ERA across 39.1 innings of work.

ABOUT BUENA VISTA

The Beavers continue their quest for their first regular season conference championship since 1996. They will need to sweep Wartburg to earn a share of the title with Dubuque.

The team enters Saturday's double header fourth in runs scored during conference play with 68. They are fifth in the league in average (.303). The team is 5th with 11 conference homeruns but have been hitting for more power recently. Overall, on the season they have hit 21 homeruns. That mark is third all-time in Beaver single season history. They need two to tie the single season record, three to break. 

Nattie Murillo has led the team during conference play this season hitting .455 while recording 20 hits, four doubles and 12 RBI. Carlee Guyett is next, hitting 0.375 with 15 hits, five doubles, five RBI, and 12 runs scored. Chloe Wells is hitting .356 with two doubles, a triple, three home runs, 14 RBI, and 14 runs scored. In 4 starts since returning from an injury, Savanna Pohlmann has hit 0.333 with 2 homeruns, 7 RBI, and 4 runs scored. Ashtyn Miller has led the team with four home runs while hitting 0.289 and driving in 10. In 7 starts, Miller has also led the team with 4 wins against conference opponents while recording a 3.55 ERA. In 7 starts, Peyton Gross has won 3 conference games while recording a 2.85 ERA.

ON DECK: The American Rivers Conference Tournament is set to take place next Friday, May 6 and Saturday, May 7 and hosted by the No. 1 overall seed.