CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – After weather pushed the start time back to 9 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium, No. 6 Wartburg fell to No. 2 Buena Vista University 3-2 after a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth. The Knights will continue American Rivers Conference tournament play on Friday, May 10 at 3 p.m.
Game Summary
- First Inning
- Both starting pitchers, Joey Ciero and Morgan Smith, got off to hot starts on the mound with one strikeout each in the first inning
- Fourth Inning
- After four innings of play, Eliot Jurgensen had recorded the only hits for Wartburg with two
- BVU had two hits through four innings as well but the score remained 0-0
- Fifth Inning
- The Knights jumped on BVU in the fifth after Cole Wessling walked and Keaton Gray singled to put runners on the corner for Jurgensen, who singled up the middle to score one run
- Gray advanced home after a wild pitch to make the score 2-0
- After the bottom half, Ciero had five strikeouts through five innings for the Knights and Wartburg led 2-0 after five innings
- Sixth Inning
- Buena Vista was able to tie it up at 2-2 in the bottom half of the sixth after stringing together a hit batter and three singles
- Seventh Inning
- Gray singled and stole second base but the Beavers were able to get out of the inning with no runs allowed
- Ninth Inning
- After the Knights were unable to bring any runs across in the top of the ninth,
Top Performers
Coaches Comments
I was really proud of how the guys stayed locked in and competed tonight after a long day today," said Head Coach
Casey Klunder following today's nightcap. "I thought we hit the ball well, but the hits were too spread out to bring enough runs across and credit to Buena Vista for being able to bunch their hits together."
Klunder spoke next about
Joey Ciero's performance on the mound, "What a gutsy performance out of Joey tonight. To be able to go eight innings and only give up a coupe runs against a team like this is special."
"I know things didn't go our way in the second game, but I'm really proud of this pitching staff and defense to allow just four runs between the No. 2 and 3 seeded teams today," Klunder said.
Notes/Streaks
- Current season series between these programs is 2-1 in favor of BVU
- Both starting pitchers went at least eight innings
- Three hits in each game for Jurgensen today
- Recorded four RBI between both games
- Neither team recorded an extra-base hit in this game
Next Time Out
The Knights will continue A-R-C Tournament play tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. in an elimination game against third seeded Luther.
