Written by Colton O'Hern
BVU Athletics Communication Student Intern

Storm Lake, Iowa (Apr. 16, 2025) – Our Buena Vista Beaver softball team was at home on a mild and slightly breezy Wednesday afternoon and played the Nebraska Wesleyan University Prairie Wolves in a doubleheader during American Rivers Conference play. The Beavers, however suffered two tough losses on the day by scores of 9-1 and 10-1; both of which ended in six innings. 

The Beavers started the bottom of the third of game one down 2-0 until freshman Bradi Krager doubled over the outfielder's head in left center field, allowing senior Danica Workman to get the sole score of game one.  BVU could not get out of the deficit as it grew larger through the duration of the game. NWU pulled away from a 3-1 lead with three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings.

Junior Rylie Garner (1-3), pitched five innings before Kali Irlmeier took over in the sixth. Garner allowed nine hits, eight runs, two walks, and had one strikeout. Other notable performances during game were Krager with her double and seniors Paige Druskis and Workman both getting a stolen base.

Like game one, the Beavers were down 2-0 until the bottom of the third until sophomore Jillian Garcia smoked a home run right over left field and out of the park. Any fan at the game knew right when that ball went up that it was gone. This was Garcia’s first home run of the season as well, making it just as special. That proved to be the only run of the contest for BVU, as the Beavers took the tough loss after NWU pulled away from the 2-1 lead with two runs in the fourth and six in the sixth.

Junior Grace Fuhrman (2-8) started and led the pitching efforts as she pitched 5.1 innings in game two. During her time at the mound, she allowed 11 hits, eight runs, four walks, hit one hitter, and had two strikeouts. Garcia leads the team with two out of the team’s four hits in the second game. The other two hits came from Druskis and freshman Jordan Fabirkiewicz. 

Buena Vista is now at 7-19 (0-8 A-R-C) after the tough doubleheader conference home loss. The Beavers will be back in action on Saturday, Apr. 19 at 1 p.m. as they will take on the Spartans from the University of Dubuque in an away conference doubleheader. The Spartans will be coming in with a record of 16-14 (5-7 A-R-C).