STORM LAKE, Iowa (May 8, 2024) - The Buena Vista University baseball team will be the No. 2 seed when the 2024 American Rivers Conference Baseball Tournament begins on Thursday, May 9 in Cedar Rapids and runs thru Saturday, May 11.

The Beavers, making their 23rd all-time conference tournament appearance, will play at 5 p.m. on Thursday evening against the winner of No. 3 seed Luther College and No. 6 seed Wartburg College. Those two teams will play the opening game of the tournament at 11 a.m. Thursday morning at the Robert W. Plaster Athletic Complex on the campus of Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids.

This season marks the fourth time that BVU enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed, and the Beavers are 5-3 in those games. The program's last tournament championship came in 2019 when it was also a No. 2 seed.

BVU closed out the regular season at 27-12 overall (16-8 A-R-C) after dropping 2-of-3 games at home to the University of Dubuque. However, despite losing just its second series in more than two years, the Beavers come into play as one of the top offensive teams in the A-R-C. They had a .321 batting average, including 279 hits, during league play with both marks ranking third. The team was fourth in runs (181), doubles (47), home runs (16) and RBI (161).

Junior Joel Garcia (.430) and sophomore Tegan Bock (.416) ranked second and third, respectively, in batting average with Bock fourth (.500) and Garcia fifth (.496) in on-base percentage. Garcia was also second in hits (43) and fifth in RBI (28). Fellow junior Evan Taylor tied for second in doubles (11) and was fourth in RBI (29).

Junior Morgan Smith led the pitching staff again this season and ranked fifth in the A-R-C with 44.2 innings pitched against conference foes. Opponents hit just .241 against him as he ranked ninth in ERA in those games at 3.63. Just in front of Smith in ERA was Mark Eddie, who was eighth at 3.00. Freshman Ean McDaniel was eighth in the league with 37.1 innings pitched, 11th in strikeouts (36) and tied Smith for second in wins (4). Eddie, meanwhile tied for fourth with his three saves.

Buena Vista has qualified into every conference tournament since 2009 (15 straight) and trails only Coe College (16 straight) for the longest active streak in the league. The team is vying for its fourth overall tournament title while its four championship game appearances is tied for fourth most all-time.

Coe College is the top-seed in this year's tournament after holding off BVU down the stretch. The Kohawks (26-14, 18-6 A-R-C) and Beavers each earn the first round bye after landing the top-two seeds.

The winner of the double-elimination tournament receives the American Rivers Conference's automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Division III Baseball Championships. The Regional round takes place May 17-19 followed by the 16-team Super Regional round the following weekend (May 24-25). Eight teams will emerge from the Super Regional round to take the field at Classic Park in Eastlake, Ohio for the NCAA Division III Baseball Championships May 31 - June 6. The North Coast Athletic Conference and Greater Cleveland Sports Commission will host the Division III College World Series in 2024, 2025, and 2026. 

American Rivers Conference Tournament Schedule:
Thursday, May 9:
Game 1: 11:00 am - No. 3 Luther vs. No. 6 Wartburg (@ Mount Mercy)
Game 2: 11:00 am - No. 4 Dubuque vs. No. 5 Loras (@ Veterans Memorial Stadium)
Game 3: 2:00 pm - Game 2 Winner vs. No. 1 Coe (@ Veterans Memorial Stadium)
Game 5: 3:00 pm - Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser (@ Mount Mercy)
Game 4: 5:00 pm - Game 1 Winner vs. No. 2 Buena Vista (@ Veterans Memorial Stadium)
 
Friday, May 10 - All Games at Veterans Memorial Stadium:
Game 6: 12:00 pm - Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner
Game 7: 3:00 pm - Game 5 Winner vs. Lower Seeded Loser of Games 3 & 4
Game 8: 6:00 pm - Game 7 Winner vs. Higher Seeded Loser of Games 3 & 4
Exception: If one of the Game 3 or 4 Losers already has had a bye, that team will play in Game 7, regardless of seed. 
 
Saturday, May 11 - All Games at Veterans Memorial Stadium:
Game 9: 11:00 am - Game 8 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser
Game 10: 2:00 pm - Game 6 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner
Game 11: 5:00 pm - Game 6 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner (if necessary)
 
Sunday is a permissible rain date.