(Storm Lake, IA) Buena Vista scored five times in the seventh and added four more key insurance runs in the eighth to help knock off second-seed Wartburg College, 9-4, on Sunday afternoon and win the 2010 Iowa Conference Baseball Tournament. The win also gives BVU the league's automatic berth into this year's NCAA Regional Baseball Championships, its first trip since 1981.

Trailing 1-0 in the seventh, Ryan Scheetz (Omaha, Neb./Millard North) put the Beavers on the board and in front with his big pinch-hit two-run single. Later in the inning, Brock Yossi (Dallas Center, Iowa/Dallas Center-Grimes) and Brandon Pietrzyk (Portland, Ore./Marshall) each added two-out RBI singles, while Brad Blum (Earling, Iowa/Harlan) also scored a run after stealing third and advancing home on a throwing error.

After working around a leadoff hit in the eighth to keep the Knights off the board, BVU added to its run total with four more big runs in the bottom of the inning. Kevin Kloewer (Omaha, Neb./Millard South) doubled to lead off before Mark Blum (Earling, Iowa/Harlan) and Nick Maxwell (Platte City, Missouri/Platte County) each followed-up with RBI doubles, pushing the lead to 7-1. Senior Mike Stephenson (Omaha, Neb./Skutt Catholic) then capped the scoring with a big two-run double down the right field line.

Those four runs proved to be even bigger in the ninth as Wartburg plated three runs before Pietrzyk, who relieved James Stone with two outs, got the final out on a ground ball to Mark Blum. Kloewer and Blum each finished with two hits and two runs scored, while Brad Blum and Yossi also added two hits. BVU pounded out 12 base knocks in the contest and are hitting .350 as a team for the year.

Jarad George (Willcox, Ariz./Willcox) gets a no decision despite going six innings, allowing just one run on three hits. Kyle Dupic (Emmetsburg, Iowa/Emmetsburg), who came in for the seventh, picks up his third win of the year, allowing just one hit. James Stone (Des Moines, Iowa/Johnston) then pitched the next 1.2 innings before Pietrzyk closed things out. It marks the first time in program history that the Beavers have won the conference tournament, and they are the second team other than Wartburg since 2005 to win the title.

Buena Vista improves to 29-11 and moves onto the NCAA Regional Tournament which begins on Wednesday, May 19 in Rock Island, Ill. The selection show to determine opponents is scheduled for later tonight.