Baseball Wins in Dramatic Fashion on Saturday against Duhawks

After being held to only one hit through the first seven innings on Saturday afternoon, the Buena Vista baseball team rallied in dramatic fashion with three runs in the eighth and one in the ninth to come all the way back and top visiting Loras College, 4-3.

Junior Neil Eddie (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna), who’s two-out single in the second was the team’s only hit until the eighth, led off the frame with a single to left to start the late-inning rally before moving to second on a Dillon Plath (Omaha. Neb./Burke) bunt single toward third.  After a pair of strikeouts, Weston Foxx (Elkhorn, Neb./Elkhorn) and Nick Schlecht (Omaha, Neb./Skutt) then drew consecutive walks to make it a 3-1 contest, before Ryan Scheetz (Omaha, Neb./Millard North) lined a game-tying two-run single to right field after battling with two strikes. 

Loras threatened in the ninth, drawing a lead-off walk followed by a sacrifice bunt to put the go-ahead runner into scoring position with one out.  After a wild pitch moved him to third, James Stone (Des Moines, Iowa/Johnston), who took over at the start of the inning for starter Michael Dirkx (Carroll, Iowa/Carroll), got a big strikeout for the second out and a ground ball to Brock Yossi (Dallas Center, Iowa/Dallas Center-Grimes) at third to end the threat.

Eddie again got the rally started in the ninth, driving a one-out single to center, and after a strikeout for the second out, he moved to second following Joe Paletta’s (Omaha, Neb./Millard South) single to left.  Then with Ryan Friedrich (Alta, Iowa/Alta), who was making his collegiate debut standing at the plate, Eddie moved up to third on a wild pitch and then scored the game-winning run when the catcher’s throw sailed wide of the base and ended up in left field.

It was the team’s second straight walk-off victory after scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning of game two on Tuesday evening to top league-leading Central, 6-5.  BVU is now 8-2 at home this season and 7-3 in one-run contests.

Eddie finished the game 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored, as BVU came back and out-hit the Duhawks, 6-5.  All 11 hits in the contest were singles.

Loras grabbed a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the second and extended the margin to 3-0 with another run in the sixth.

Dirkx overcame six walks to hold the Duhawks to only five hits in his eight innings of work.  Stone picks up the win in relief and is now 4-1 on the year.

Buena Vista improves its record to 18-14 (10-8 IIAC) and will wrap up the home portion of its season schedule with a doubleheader against the Duhawks tomorrow afternoon beginning at 12:00pm.

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