CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (May 11, 2023) - The No. 23 Buena Vista University baseball team was back in action inside Veterans Memorial Stadium to open its American Rivers Conference run against No. 5 seed University of Dubuque. The top-seeded Beavers scored in both the third and sixth innings and emerged victorious with a 5-0 win.

BVU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the third inning on an RBI double from Joel Garcia and an RBI single from Evan Taylor. The Beavers would add on again in the sixth on Calvin Harris' RBI single and a two-run double from Zack Beekmann. Those insurance runs were all the team needed as it would prove to be flawless on the mound. 

Sophomore Morgan Smith was instrumental on the mound for BVU, as the Boone, Iowa, native improved to 9-1 on the year after pitching eight dominant innings, allowing no runs, on five hits, and one walk while striking out six. Logan Lape-Brinkman pitched a perfect inning in relief of Smith to close out the victory. 

The Beavers lineup was held to only six hits in the contest as Evan Taylor recorded a game-high two hits while scoring and driving in a run. Beekmann drove in a game-high two runs on his only hit. Taylor extends his current overall hit streak to seven games, while Beekman's reaches six. Drew Taylor went 0-for-3, snapping his 10-game streak.

Buena Vista is now 9-4 all-time during the tournament when playing as the No. 1 seed. The team also reaches 30 wins in a single season for the fifth time in 23 years under head coach Steve Eddie.

Next Up: BVU (30-7) will continue its tournament run on Friday at 12pm vs. tonight's winner of No. 3 seed Loras and No. 2 seed Luther.