The 18th-ranked Buena Vista baseball team maintained its one-game lead over Wartburg College heading into Saturday after bouncing back from a 2-0 defeat in game one on Friday to edge the Knights, 4-1, in the nightcap.
Wartburg won the battle of the pitcher's duel in the opener, getting a pair of runs across in the fifth inning. BVU was unable to get much going offensively, as Wartburg starting pitcher Ben Rettenmeier held the Beavers to only two hits, and didn't allow a single runner to reach third base.
Ringblom suffered just his second loss of the season and is now 5-2. He went the distance, allowed two runs on six hits, struck out eight and walked only one Despite the loss, he still has yet to allow more than two runs in any appearance this season - all of which have resulted in at least six innings pitched.
BVU got another stellar pitching performance in game two, and used some clutch hitting to help salvage the split. The win kept the Beavers from losing consecutive games for the first time this season.
Scott Harris had a career night on the hill for BVU. He allowed just one run on five hits while pitching a career-best 8.1 innings. He also struck out a career-best 13 hitters and walked just one.
Lucas Hadaway came on and pitched the final 0.2 innings, including one strikeout, to record his fourth save of the year.
Each team scored a run in the first inning before BVU took the lead for good after plating three runs in the third. Joe Paletta got the rally started with two outs, singling down the right field line. Foxx followed with a single to right center as Paletta moved to third. Jeremy Lambert then pushed across the go-ahead run with an RBI single to center before Tanner Truesdell and Bryce Wessels each followed with run-scoring singles to make it 4-1.
That was more than enough for Harris who didn't allow more than one hit in any inning.
Paletta went 2-for-2 at the plate with a run scored, while Bryce Wessels and Foxx also added two hits.
Buena Vista (28-6, 17-5 IIAC) keeps the lead over the Knights (22-12, 16-6 IIAC) at one entering Saturday's final two games. The Beavers also hold a three-game cushion on Central which moved into third after it swept a doubleheader at Loras College.
Saturday's doubleheader in Waverly will get underway at 1:00pm.