The BVU Baseball team competed in five games over Easter break, taking on two IIAC rivals: the Central Dutch at Pella, and the Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves at home.

With an overall record of 6-10 before taking on the Central Dutch in their first game of the weekend, the Beavers looked to find their stride and come back to Storm Lake with three conference wins in hand.

BVU’s matchups with the Dutch saw them play two games on Friday the 30th, and finish off the triple header with another game on Saturday.

Central began the three game series with a hot offense and a shutdown defense, as the Dutch’s Chris Riddle drove in the first RBI of the series in the bottom of the second inning. Three more runs from Central followed in the bottom of the third, increasing their lead to 4-0.

The game went quiet for four innings, until the Beavers finally found the scoreboard through a run driven in by Parker Truesdell.

The Dutch then pulled away from BVU, scoring two more while the visiting team answered back with two runs of their own. The Central Dutch took the first game, 7-3.

In game two, BVU junior Porter Sartor, sparked the team’s offense with a solo home run shot over the center field fence. Devin Wagenman followed up Sartor’s RBI with one of his own in the top of the 3rd to put BVU up 2-1.

The Dutch rattled off three more runs in the bottom of the fourth, as BVU starting pitcher Egan Bonde, struggled against a successful Central batting lineup. However, the Beavers added four more runs to their tally in the next three innings stifling the Dutch’s bats.

The game thrilled fans all the way into the 10th inning when IIAC Male Athlete of the Week Coleman Roberts, drove in the last run of the game to defeat Central, 7-6.

With the series split at 1-1, the final game of the weekend would decide the winner of the series for the regular season.

Game three put Tyler Heineman on the mound for BVU, as Central immediately drove in three runs in the first inning. After some back and forth between the teams, the score stood at 3-5 in favor of Central in the top of the 6th.

BVU began to surge, and refused to stop driving in an astounding 17 runs in the next three innings, finishing the game with a win, 21-9.

BVU would split the series with the Dutch 2-1. Head Coach Steve Eddie was pleased with the way the team turned around their performance on the weekend.

“In the sport of baseball, it’s difficult to win every game. Central’s pitcher is one of the best in the league. We have to play very solid baseball when we face a guy like that, and we just didn’t do it. However, I am proud of how the guys bounced back and figured out a way to win game two. Central gave us an opportunity to win, and we took advantage of it,” Eddie said.

The team hosted their home opener against the Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves on April 2.

Game 1 of the series put Tate Holmes on the mound for BVU with an 0-2 record. The BVU offense got off to a hot start, driving in three runs in the bottom of the second including an RBI single from Roberts.

The visiting Prairie Wolves answered back with two runs of their own, before BVU heated up scoring nine, and increasing their lead substantially.

The Beavers continued to stifle the Wesleyan offense, limiting them to only one more run in the ball game while the home team drove in another as well.

BVU would take game 1, 13-3 in seven innings.

Game two was a different story from the offensive showing by the host team, as both BVU pitchers, Eric LaRue and Connor Cech, holding both teams at bat for most of the game.

It wasn’t until the bottom of the third when the deadlock was broken. BVU sophomore Peyton Renning hit an RBI single to putting the host team up. Nebraska Wesleyan grabbed an unearned run late in the game, setting the stage for the finale.

In the bottom of the 9th inning with a 1-1 ballgame, BVU freshman Tyler Stoltze scored at home plate on a wild pitch delivered by Wesleyan’s Jesse Maguire, walking off the Prairie Wolves.

With four wins out of their five games played on the weekend, BVU Baseball improved their standing with 10-11 overall.

BVU will finish the three game series with Nebraska Wesleyan on April 10, as they travel to Omaha, Nebraska.