STORM LAKE, Iowa (Apr. 11, 2026) - The Buena Vista baseball team overcame a 5-1 deficit over Coe College on Saturday afternoon by scoring five unanswered runs, capped by a walk-off RBI single from junior Brandon Jenkins in the bottom of the ninth inning that sent the Beavers to the series win with a thrilling 6-5 victory.

Freshman Benjamin Byington got the rally started in the ninth inning with a one-out single. He later moved up to second on a dropped third strike that got far enough past the catcher. That left it up to Jenkins who had come in late in the game as a defensive replacement and laced a single to the gap in left center to score Byington and sending the Beaver faithful into a frenzy.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Beavers tied things up at 5-5 on a three-run triple with two outs from sophomore Kaden Struck. He launched a 2-2 pitch to straight away centerfield which landed near the base of the fence past the outstretched arms of a diving centerfielder. The triple was Struck's second of the year and also his second hit of the game. Earlier in the inning, BVU began chipping away at its four-run deficit with an RBI single from Byington through the left side.

Coe College (19-10, 10-5 A-R-C) benefited from a pair of early home runs to build its 5-1 lead. The first was a solo home run on the second pitch to the second batter of the game. Then in the fourth, it got a two-run shot to left center that was part of a three-run inning that made it 4-1.

Sophomore Jack Dahlager connected on the seventh pitch of his at-bat in the second inning on a 3-2 pitch for his first career home run that made it 1-1. He finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Byington finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and a pair of runs scored to help lead the Beavers while Struck was the other multi-hit performer. As a team, BVU tallied nine hits overall with seven of them going for singles.

Freshman Dan Meis was strong in his first career start by striking out six and walking only one over five innings. He was charged with four runs and seven hits. Five relievers then combined to allow just one run and four hits over the final four innings. Junior Koleson Evans was the last of those arms, and he worked the final 1.1 innings and retired all four hitters he faced.

The win gave BVU its first A-R-C series win of the year and the team has now won five of the last six over the Kohawks.

Buena Vista is 8-21 on the year (4-11 A-R-C) and moves within just one win of sixth in the conference standings with nine games remaining. Next up will be the final two home games of the year as the Beavers host Nebraska Wesleyan in a doubleheader on Tuesday, Apr. 14 starting at 3:30 p.m.