Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 BETTENDORF, Iowa (March 19, 2026) - The Buena Vista softball team went back on the road Thursday for a non-conference doubleheader against Augustana College (Ill.). The games were shifted to the TBK Sports Complex due to unplayable field conditions at Augustana. The Vikings won the opener 7-0 before the Beavers bounced back with a 9-6 victory in the nightcap.

Four of the seven runs scored by Augustana in game one came in the first inning with three of those on a 3-run home run. The Vikings maintained the 4-0 advantage until the sixth inning when they tacked on three more runs. BVU was held without a hit until Jordan Fabirkiewicz singled to center on the first pitch she saw in the top of the sixth. That proved to be the team's lone hit of the game. Fabirkiewicz was also one of three players to walk as the team stranded four runners overall.

Kali Irlmeier started inside the circle for BVU and suffered the loss. She pitched four innings, allowing four runs and four hits while walking two. Grace Fuhrman came on in relief and was charged with the final three runs over 1.1 innings. Ella Brown came in and got out of the jam in the bottom of the sixth with a fly out and ground out.

It was a pitcher's duel in the early going of game two with Augustana plating two runs in the first and BVU getting one back in the second. The Beavers then grabbed their first lead of the day by exploding for five runs in the fifth to go in front 6-2. The team took advantage of sloppy Viking defense to push two runs across before getting an RBI single from freshman Jaylynn Craun followed by a two-run single by Lindy Nelson.

The Vikings (1-1) got three of those runs back in the bottom of the inning to make it a 6-5 game before BVU added three big insurance runs in the seventh inning to extend their margin to 9-5. Junior Jillian Garcia came on and got an RBI single to right before Karlee Noe came through with a two-run double to left center. Augustana threatened in their last at-bat by loading the bases but was able to push across just one run on an RBI ground out to second base. The game ended with Brown getting the potential tying run to fly out to center field.

Both teams combined for 26 hits in the game and each made one error. Noe led the way for BVU by going 3-for-5 at the dish with the two RBI and a run scored. Craun, Nelson as well as Rylie Garner each followed with two hits with Nelson finishing with her two RBI. 

Paige Mahler (1-2) allowed five runs and 11 hits over 5.2 innings of work to pick up her first win of the year. Brown came on and pitched a strong 1.1 innings, allowing just one run and three hits. 

Buena Vista is 3-12 on the year and is set to play its home opener on Monday, March 23, with a non-conference doubleheader against Martin Luther starting at 4 p.m. The games, which begin a six-game homestand, were moved to Storm Lake due to unplayable field conditions in New Ulm, Minn., as a result of last weekend's winter storm.