Written by Josh Garcia
BVU Sports Information Student Intern

STORM LAKE, Iowa (May 6, 2022) - After a first-round bye the top-seeded Buena Vista softball team will be back in action against Wartburg College for its first game of the American Rivers Conference Tournament on Saturday morning. 

THE MATCH-UP

Wartburg (24-12, 9-7 A-R-C) @ Buena Vista (26-12, 10-6 A-R-C)
Saturday, May 7, 2022 | 11 a.m.
BVU/Storm Lake H.S. Field | Storm Lake, Iowa

ABOUT WARTBURG

The Knights will look to bounce back after getting swept by Buena Vista last time the two teams played with the regular season conference championship on the line. 

The Knights boast a conference leading offense. As a squad they ranked first the following categories: 

Runs: 107
Average: .346
On Base %: .427
Slugging %: .550
Hits: 158
Triples: 2
Homeruns: 21
Stolen Bases: 38 (43 attempts)
Sacrifice flies: 11

Sydney Illg led the team during conference play with a .404 average with 21 hits, five homeruns, 14 RBI, 18 runs scored, and seven stolen bases (nine attempts). Following Illg was Olivia Brecht. Brecht hit .400 with 20 hits, 6 doubles, 3 homeruns, 15 RBI, and 14 runs scored. Ella Link led the conference with 7 homeruns and 26 RBIs while hitting .354 with 17 hits, 4 doubles, and 18 runs scored.

They will rely on their top ranked offense to balance out a pitching staff that ranked 8th in the conference with a 5.18 ERA. The long ball plagued the staff, allowing 16 in 16 conference games. They were the only team to not record a shutout in conference play. Opponents hit .315 against the staff.  In 9 starts, Ashley Nelson was the team's best pitcher going 4-3 with a 4.91 ERA across 45.2 innings of work.

ABOUT BUENA VISTA

The Beavers will look to continue what has already been a historic season for the program. With a sweep of Wartburg last weekend, the program earned its first regular season conference championship since 1996. They will begin their conference tournament run with another matchup against Wartburg College. 

The team finished the regular season third in runs scored during conference play with 83. They were third in the league in average (.308). The team was 6th with 11 conference homeruns. During conference play Nataliah Murillo led the team in batting with a league leading .481 batting average to go along with 25 hits, four doubles, one homerun, and 16 RBI. Carlee Guyett hit .396 with 19 hits, five doubles, five RBI, and 15 runs scored. Chloe Wells hit .382 with four doubles, a triple, three home runs, 15 RBI, and 18 runs scored. Rylee Cain hit .306 with 15 hits, 2 doubles, and 5 RBI. Ashtyn Miller hit .280 with a team leading 4 homeruns while driving in 12. Savanna Pohlmann recorded a .909 OPS along with 2 homeruns and 7 RBI. 

Ashtyn Miller and Peyton Gross made up a dynamic 1-2 punch for a Beavers pitching staff that ranked 2nd in the conference with a 3.08 ERA. Miller went 6-3 with a 2.88 ERA while recording a league leading 8 complete games. Gross was 4-3 with a 3.17 ERA. Kennedi Claycomb provided the staff with some valuable depth recording a 4.01 ERA.  
 

ON DECK: The winner of the matchup will advance to the American Rivers Conference finals.