The NCAA Division III Baseball Committee has announced the 60 teams that will compete in the 2023 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship. The Buena Vista University baseball team received one of the 17 at-large bids and will take part in the double-elimination regional hosted by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (May 19-21).
The four-team regional includes: #1 seed UW-La Crosse (31-9) (host), #2 seed Buena Vista (30-9), #3 seed Bethel University (29-10) and #4 seed Bethany Lutheran (24-9).
Buena Vista and Bethel will face each other in the second game of the day on May 19 with first pitch scheduled for 2:30 p.m. The two teams are no stranger to each other this season, squaring-off in a three-game series down in Topeka, Kan., on February 25-26. The two teams split the DH on Feb. 25 before BVU hung on for a 4-3 victory in the finale. The Royals enter the regional following its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Tournament title after a 1-0 victory over Saint Benedict.
In first match-up of the day at 11 a.m., top-seed UW-La Crosse will take on fourth-seed Bethany Lutheran. The 15th-ranked Eagles earned the automatic bid by defeating UW-Whitewater, 7-2, to win the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) tournament title. Bethany Lutheran College took down Crown College, 7-3, in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) tournament championship game to also earn on of the 41 automatic berths.
Click to listen to BVU baseball coach Steve Eddie.
https://stormlakeradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Steve-Eddie-5-17-23-2.mp3
