Buena Vista University (BVU) Baseball picked up their fifth and sixth conference wins on Tuesday, April 4th, on the road against Nebraska Wesleyan. Freshman, Gage Smart, picked up his first ever conference win in the first game, pitching 5.2 innings of scoreless ball. Sophomore, Andy Bower, picked up his first save of the year while coming in and finishing the final 3.1. The Beavers won the first game 6-0 in large part to sophomore third baseman, Porter Sartor. Sartor finished the game 4 for 5 with an RBI and two runs scored.

The team picked up right where they left off for the second game of the doubleheader, winning 6-4. Sophomore, Egan Bonde, threw the first 3 innings, giving up 4 hits and 2 earned runs, but it was freshman, Tate Holmes, who picked up his first career conference win with 4 innings in relief. Dalton Mason, the always reliable senior reliever, picked up his second save of the season with 2 shutout innings.

“This is the time of the season we really want to get rolling. Every conference game matters and when we start to get hot it puts a lot of pressure on the other schools in the conference.” Sartor said.

The week finished up on Sunday, April 9, when the Beavers took on Carleton College for a non-conference home doubleheader. While it was supposed to be two 7-inning games, the first game took 8 innings for the Beavers to squeeze out the win, 3-2. The game ended on a Kolby Hilgenberg walk-off homerun off of Carleton’s Willie Freimuth. Senior, Jake Hadaway, threw 6 innings striking out 5 and giving up 2 earned runs for the Beavers. Mason picked up the win, however, coming in and striking out four batters in the two innings of relief.

In the second game, the Beavers put up 7 runs in the bottom half of the first inning and never looked back. Junior, Keenan Jones, threw the first three innings of the contest, striking out six and giving up 2 earned. Holmes, Smart, Bower, and Jayden Clark all gave the beavers 1 inning each of relief, with Holmes picking up the win. Senior, Cale Ewald, finished 4-4 with 5 RBI’s, including two home-runs and a double.

“I think we’re playing with a lot of confidence. This is a big week for us, and I think we can have a lot of success if we play our game.” Ewald said.

On Tuesday, April 11, the Beavers finish up their conference series against Nebraska Wesleyan and on Friday, April 15, they start their three-game series against the Dutch of Central.