LINCOLN, Neb. (Apr. 23, 2024) - The Buena Vista University baseball team got a pair of career-best pitching performances by its starting pitching on Tuesday which helped aid the team as it got back on track with a doubleheader road sweep at Nebraska Wesleyan by scores of 8-3 and 12-3.
Freshman right hander Johnny Vallinch pitched a career-high 6.1 innings in the opener while junior Evan Taylor was 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI and a pair of stolen bases to spark BVU to its fifth straight win over the Prairie Wolves in the opener. Vallinch allowed just three runs and four hits and improved to 3-1 overall. The Papillion, Neb., native's previous career-high was 3.2 innings set versus Wartburg College on Apr. 9, and today's outing was just the second time in 13 appearances this season where he worked longer than 2.0 innings.
Senior Brayden Polzien came on in relief in the seventh after Vallinch hit the first two batters of the frame. He worked the final 2.2 innings, allowing a pair of walks and striking out one, en route to his first career save.
Taylor singled home a run in the fifth to extend the BVU lead to 3-1 before an infield hit in the seventh scored a run to make it 5-1.
NWU got on the board first with a sacrifice fly in the third to lead 1-0. Junior Joel Garcia tied the game at 1-1 in the fifth with a sacrifice fly and then later broke a school record with the team's 24th sacrifice fly of the season in the seventh that made it a 4-1 cushion. Jordan Mathewson had tied the record with his sacrifice fly in the fifth that put BVU in front for good at 2-1.
After the Prairie Wolves cut into BVU's lead to make it 5-3 in the seventh, Garcia came through with a big RBI single in the top of the ninth to help spark a three-run frame and give the Beavers an 8-3 advantage. Junior Drew Taylor added the final two runs for BVU with a 2-run double.
Garcia finished the game 1-for-3 with three RBI and one run scored. Tegan Bock was 1-for-3 with a double, stolen base and scored a team-high three runs while freshman Brandon Jenkins was 0-for-2 with a walk but did score twice.
It was a tight pitcher's duel to begin the nightcap until the fifth inning when BVU broke things open with four runs, including a two-run triple from Garcia that made it 3-0 before Drew Taylor added an RBI single for the fourth run. The Beavers didn't stop there and added three more runs in the sixth and four more in the seventh to build an 11-0 cushion. Garcia finished off that scoring in the sixth inning with a 2-run single and finished the game 2-for-4 at the plate with four RBI.
Nebraska Wesleyan extended the game in the seventh by scoring three times off freshman reliever Koleson Evans, but just one of those runs were earned. Drew Camman and Logan Lape-Brinkman closed the door by each throwing a scoreless inning at the end.
Freshman right hander Jake Eddie made his first career start on the mound and pitched a career-high 6.0 scorelss innings, allowed five hits, and struck out a career-high four batters.
Fifth-year Grant Oseka matched a career-high with four hits to lead the team at the plate while six others recorded multi-hit performances. Bock was among that group as he added to more hits to finish the doubleheader with five total. Mathewson reached base six times in the game, going 2-for-2 with four walks.
BVU completes the season sweep of the Prairie Wolves and has now won six straight games over Nebraska Wesleyan. The Beavers improve to 24-9 overall this season and 13-5 in conference play. The team sits a half game behind Coe College as it heads into its three-game weekend home series against Loras College which begins Friday, Apr. 26, with a single nine-inning game at 6 p.m.
Stay tuned to www.bvuathletics.com for schedule updates due to potential inclement weather for the weekend.