CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (May 9, 2024) - After a nearly four hour delay due to weather, fifth-year senior Grant Oseka made it worth the wait in the end as his RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted No. 2 Buena Vista to a thrilling 3-2 victory over No. 6 Wartburg College on Thursday night inside of Veterans Memorial Stadium to begin the American Rivers Conference Tournament.

Fifth-year Zack Beekman began the ninth for BVU with a double into left center and then moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt from fellow fifth-year Calvin Harris. Oseka then followed with a single down the right field line to score Beekmann and send the team into a frenzy.

The Knights jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth before BVU pulled even in the bottom of the sixth with RBI singles from Evan Taylor and Harris. Both starting pitchers went deep into the game with junior Morgan Smith going eight innings while Wartburg stater Joey Ciero was lifted after the double to Beekmann.

BVU tallied eight hits in the contest with the Beekmann double being the only one for extra-bases. Jordan Mathewson was the lone starter not to record a hit, but he did reach base on a hit-by-pitch in the sixth and later scored.

Smith scattered just single singles over his eight innings, allowed the two runs, walked four and struck out eight. Junior Mark Eddie (2-1) came on in relief and worked a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to earn the win.

Buena Vista improves to 28-12 on the year and will be right back on the field for a noon start on Friday against No. 1 Coe College. The Beavers won two of the three match-ups with the Kohawks during the regular season. Coe advanced into the semifinal match-up following its 6-4 victory over Loras College earlier in the afternoon before the tarp was put onto the field.