WAVERLY, Iowa – Knights baseball is on the road this weekend for a three-game series against Buena Vista University on Friday and Saturday, Apr. 15-16.
Friday, Apr. 15 – 3:00 p.m. – Storm Lake, Iowa – Storm Lake H.S. Field
Wartburg Knights (18-11, 8-4 A-R-C) vs Buena Vista Beavers (16-8, 8-2 A-R-C)
Watch Live | Live Stats
Saturday, Apr. 9 – 1:00 p.m. – Storm Lake, Iowa -
Storm Lake H.S. Field
Wartburg Knights (18-11, 8-4 A-R-C) vs Buena Vista Beavers (16-8, 8-2 A-R-C)
Watch Live | Live Stats
Saturday, Apr. 9 – Following Game 1 – Storm Lake, Iowa – Storm Lake H.S. Field
Wartburg Knights (18-11, 8-4 A-R-C) vs Buena Vista Beavers (16-8, 8-2 A-R-C)
Watch Live | Live Stats
Last Time Out
After clinching a 2-1 series win over the University of Dubuque last weekend, the Knights fell to Luther College 6-2 at home on Monday, Apr. 11.
Both sides started the game with two scoreless innings and just one hit combined. Luther struck first on the scoreboard after a single up the middle brought home the first run of the game. The Norse tacked on another run in the top of the fourth after a leadoff double eventually brought in the second run of the game.
Down 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth,
Caleb Andrews got the Knights' first hit of the game but with runners on the corner Luther was able to escape the jam. The Norse started the fifth inning with a triple and then two batters later a double scored two more runs to make it 4-0. Wartburg's offense was able to get one run back in the bottom half of the fifth after
Bryce Butler singled to cause an error that brought
Carter Stubitz home for the Knights' first run.
Luther's bats did not cool down in the sixth inning as they put two more runs up after a long two-run homerun from Noah Sebben. After a nice diving catch off the mound from reliever
Max Hansen, the Knights got out of the inning without any more runs given up.
In the bottom of the seventh the Knights scored again after an RBI double from Stubitz. After two hitless innings pitched by
Kyle Thompson, the Knights were headed to final inning down 6-2.
Kyle Oberbroeckling closed the final inning on the mound and struck out his final two batters, but the Knights couldn't rally on offense and fell 6-2.
Conference Standings
The Beavers enter the series atop the American Rivers Conference standings with a conference mark of 8-2 and an overall record of 16-8. The Orange & Black are in second place at 8-4 in A-R-C play and 18-11 overall.
Full A-R-C Standings
Season Leaders
Dylan Gotto leads the team and ranks second in the conference with 54 strikeouts through seven starts for the Knights. The senior is six strikeouts away from tying, and seven from breaking, the all-time Wartburg record for strikeouts in a career. The record number of 236 punch outs was set by Bradley Watson in 2011. Gotto is leading the A-R-C in innings pitched and ranks fourth in the conference with an ERA of 2.63.
Aaron Eybers leads all Wartburg pitchers in appearances so far with 12. The senior right-hander has not started one game but has a record of 2-1 and has two saves this season for the Orange & Black. Hansen has been a solid reliever for the Knights this season with seven appearances and a team-best (min. five appearances) opponents hit percentage of .133.
At the plate, Andrews is leading the Knights in batting average with a mark of .402 through 102 at bats. The sophomore has driven in 10 runs and is second in hits with 41 behind
Max Goodhue's 42.
Goodhue is tied with three other players for most triples in the A-R-C this season with three. The senior has hit 10 doubles and drove in 23 runs while scoring 26 himself.
Zach Walton is currently second in the conference in both RBI's and homeruns with 40 and seven respectively. His OPS of 1.311 is also currently second best in the conference.
Buena Vista
The Beavers enter the series winners of their last four games and are 8-2 in their last 10 games. In its last time out Buena Vista defeated Nebraska Wesleyan University 12-6 on the road.
The Beavers have a balanced attack at the plate as they have seven different hitters with 15+ RBI and seven players with a homerun so far this season. Taylor Evans leads all batters with an average of .418 and is tied with Zack Beekmann and Jordan Mathewson for most homers at three.
Morgan Smith leads all Beaver pitchers in strikeouts with a mark of 54 through 37 innings pitched. He has made nine appearances and has a 3-1 record through four starts.
Calvin Harris has made a team-high 10 appearances this season and leads the Beavers in ERA with a mark of 0.84. The junior has recorded four saves and allowed just 6 hits through 10.2 innings pitched.
The Knights have won three of their last four against BVU but are 5-5 in the last 10 games played. The four-game series played at home last year went three games to one in favor of Wartburg.
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