STORM LAKE, Iowa (Feb. 13, 2026) - The big pieces from last year's regular season and tournament championships might have departed due to graduation, but the Buena Vista baseball team looks to lean on the experienced parts it does return in 2026 as it gets set to open the season this weekend.

BVU and 26th-year head coach Steve Eddie must replace four of its top-five overall hits leaders from season as well as the top-3 pitchers in the rotation. Despite that number of departures, the Beavers do, however, return sophomore Kaden Struck, who just happens to be the reigning American Rivers Conference Rookie of the Year. During his first collegiate season in 2025, Struck started 42 games and hit .361 overall with 55 hits, 42 RBI, 37 runs and led the team with a .487 on-base percentage. 

Among the remaining starting position players from last year's line-up are junior second baseman Jake Eddie, junior outfielder, Brandon Jenkins and sophomore outfielder Cooper Sobeck. Each of those three players tallied over 30 hits and combined for 59 RBI. They will also be key parts of a defense that was among the best in the league with a .967 fielding percentage and turning 21 double plays.

Even with the loss of its top-3 starters on the mound, Buena Vista has an experienced core of arms coming back. Sophomore lefthander Dylan Johnson and junior righthander Ean McDaniel both tossed over 30.0 innings last season and combined to go 7-2 overall with 70 strikeouts. A total of five pitchers worked at least 10.0 innings during last year's championship run, and that group will give Eddie a great deal of depth to lean on in the early going of 2026 as he works to mix in his talented group of newcomers.

Buena Vista was third in the A-R-C overall last season in batting average (.288) and ERA (4.25) while holding the top spot in fielding percentage (.967).

The A-R-C coaches are still showing a great deal of respect towards the program even with having to replace a number of the top players in the league. BVU was picked by the league coaches in this year's preseason coaches poll to finish second behind Coe for the second straight season. Eddie is excited for the challenge of a new season in what will be against another competitive league schedule and to see how the mix of this year's team comes together.

"We are excited about the opportunity to create a new identity in 2026,” says Eddie. “We have a great group of guys who have been patient and learned from some of our great leaders from the last few years.  We should see improvement each and every week and hope to be battle tested enough to compete once we get to conference play."

The team faces that first test when it opens the season on Feb. 14-15 against Hamline University in a three-game weekend series to be played in Lincoln, Neb. The Beavers then travel to the state of Kansas each of the two following weeks for three-game series against both Bethany Lutheran College (Feb. 21-22) and Saint John's University (Minn.) on Feb. 28 and March 1.

That all leads up to the team's spring break trip where it will play three different opponents in Sauget, Ill. from March 6-8 followed by three games in Memphis, Tenn., from March 12-14.

After having played 12 games away from campus to begin the season, the Beavers will finally get to play on their home turf on March 20-21 as it begins defense of its conference title by hosting the University of Dubuque in a three-game weekend series. That is the start of a nine-game homestand which also includes a weekend series against Loras College and a mid-week nine-inning game with Central College. The final home games of the year are set for April 14 in a doubleheader against Nebraska Wesleyan.

The team's first conference road test is scheduled for April 3-4 at Luther College. The final regular season series of the year is on May 1-2 at Simpson College.

As it has for the last two decades, the A-R-C Tournament will remain at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for at least one more year and be held from May 7-9.