Written by Josh Garcia
BVU Athletics Communications Student Contributor
 

STORM LAKE, Iowa (April 15, 2023) - The Buena Vista Baseball team concluded their weekend series against Coe College with a Saturday morning matchup. The Beavers fell behind 5-0 after just a half inning but rallied back to win the game 9-6 and sweep the series.

On what was a cloudy, cold and breezy morning for baseball, BVU encountered trouble early after Coe's leadoff hitter reached on a dropped flyball to left. Coe capitalized on the miscue with a five-run rally. The rally chased BVU starting pitcher Peyton Thomas before the first inning concluded. 

BVU hitters were quick to start chipping away at the deficit scoring three in the bottom half of the inning while taking care of a Coe miscue before adding another run in the second to narrow it to 5-4. The score would remain there until the fifth inning when their bats would get going again. This time for a five-run rally. 

The outburst would prove to be enough for BVU as Mason Gehling shined in relief of Thomas. The junior pitcher was a calming presence for the staff allowing just four hits, one run, and a walk over six innings of work. The effort would earn him the winning decision, improving his record to 4-0. He bridged the gap to closer Calvin Harris who worked a perfect ninth to earn the save. The save is the 15th in his career and brings him within two of the program's all-time record.

The Beaver lineup would finish with nine runs on nine hits overall. They were bolstered by the top of the order with both Drew and Evan Taylor recording multiple hits with Evan also scoring twice. Harris also added two hits and finished with three RBI.

Buena Vista has now won nine straight games overall and improves to 24-5 (15-1 A-R-C).

NEXT UP: BVU will be in action next on Tuesday, April 18th for a 3:00 p.m. single-game matchup at Central College. The Beavers swept last week's doubleheader in Storm Lake by scores of 10-5 and 11-0 (7 innings).