WAVERLY, Iowa – The Wartburg College Knights baseball team (8-20 overall, 5-10 A-R-C) will travel to face the Buena Vista University Beavers (12-6, 5-8) in a three-game series beginning on Friday, April 19 with a single game at 6 p.m. A doubleheader is scheduled for Saturday, April 20 at 1 p.m.
 
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The Series
The Knights own a 17-9 record in the all-time series. The Orange and Black were victorious in the last meeting, defeating the Beavers 15-10 in Storm Lake. The longest winning streak the Knights held over the Beavers was six games, dating from April 10, 2016 to May 12, 2017. Click here for a complete history of the matchup.
 
Wartburg
Winners of two of their last three games, the Orange and Black enter Friday's game sitting eighth in the American Rivers Conference standings. Junior Tyler Hovick (Roland) leads the team with a .316 batting average (min. 35 at bats), in addition to owning team-highs in RBIs (13) and home runs (4). Junior Andrew Walker (Eagan, Minn.) is second on the squad with a .282 average, followed by junior Tyler Nunemaker (Ely) in third with a .275 average. Nunemaker is second on the team with 12 RBIs, followed by freshman Jarod Harris (Manchester) and sophomore Parker Ridge (Marion) with 10 RBIs apiece.
 
Sophomore JoJo McNair (Joliet, Ill.) leads the club in stolen bases with 14 on 15 attempts, followed by Hovick with five on five attempts. Recent A-R-C pitcher of the week Darren Kilpatrick (Fairfax) leads the starting pitchers with a 3.77 ERA in 43 innings of work. Sophomore Dylan Gotto (Peosta) leads the group in strikeouts with 46, followed by junior Ben Milewski (Lake Villa, Ill.) with 39 and Kilpatrick with 24.
 
Season Record Watch
Hovick's slugging percentage of .557 with 11 games remaining is currently first in an individual season in program history, while his four triples this season are tied for the fifth-most in a single season.
 
Buena Vista
The Beavers are currently enduring a five-game skid and are sitting at sixth in the conference standings. Leading the team in batting average is Bryce Rheault (.370), followed by Peyton Renning (.333) and Nick Henrichs (.278). Renning leads the team in RBIs with 22, followed by Tyler Tennyson and Coleman Roberts with 17 apiece. Rheault also leads the club in stolen bases with 13, with Renning in second with nine and Ryley McGregor in third with six.
 
Henrichs leads all starting pitchers with a 2.76 ERA, followed by Egan Bonde with a 4.81 ERA. Gage Smart leads all pitchers in ERA, posting a 1.29 in 28 innings of action.  Smart leads the club in strikeouts with 34, while Henrichs is second with 28. The Beavers are coached by Steve Eddie. He is assisted by Steve Sonka and Joe Paletta.