Norse swept by Buena Vista

The Luther College baseball team dropped a 13-9 decision to Buena Vista University in Decorah, April 2.

Luther was trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the first, with runners on first and second, when the rain came down and forced a delay of over an hour. When action resumed, Luther tied the game, with Mark Weber (‘10) hitting a triple to the right-center field gap, scoring two runs.

The tie proved to be as close as the Norse would come to the Beavers for the remainder of the afternoon.

The Beavers tallied 15 hits and posted multiple runs in the third, fifth and seventh innings en route to the victory. Luther continued to battle and registered 15 hits of their own, but unfortunately left 14 runners stranded.

Matt Bruhn (‘11) was 3-for-5, while Jeff Riddle (‘10), Ben Schott (‘10), Zack Topping (‘10) and Weber all tallied two hits. Schott and Weber were credited with two RBI each. April 3, the second day of action, the Beavers won game one 3-1 and posted an 11-2 victory in the nightcap.

In game one, both teams did all of their damage in the sixth inning. Buena Vista scored three runs on three hits and was also aided by one Luther error. Ryan Bahnemann (‘12) drove in the lone Luther run in the bottom half of the frame with an RBI double.

Cody Hyland (‘10) went the distance on the mound and allowed nine hits, walked one and struck out one.

Buena Vista tallied 11 runs on 12 hits and scored every inning except two in the nightcap. The Beavers blew this game open with a five-run second inning.

Zack Topping was 2-for-2, while Chris Reynolds (‘12), Schott and Weber each had one hit.

The Norse scored one run in the first when Jeff Riddle scored from third on an error by Beaver pitcher Steve Johnston. Topping scored Luther’s final run in the fourth on a wild pitch.

The two losses drops Luther’s Iowa Conference record to 0-6, 10-9 overall. Buena Vista moved to 3-0 in league play, 8-6 overall.

Game 1:
Buena Vista Univ... 000 003 0 - 3 9 1
Luther College..... 000 001 0 - 1 9 3

Game 2:
Buena Vista Univ.... 252 100 1 - 11 12 1
Luther College...... 100 100 0 - 2 5 3

Game 3:
Buena Vista Univ.... 000 003 0 - 3 9 1
Luther College...... 000 001 0 - 1 9 3