BVU Athletics Podcast Spotlights Softball, Baseball Coaches Ahead of Spring Season

Steve Eddie has spent every season of his coaching career at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, and 26 years in, the BVU baseball program he built is facing one of its most significant roster turnovers yet. Eddie and second-year softball coach Tammy Utley sat down for the latest episode of "Inside Beaver Athletics," BVU's official athletics podcast, giving fans a look at what both Beaver programs are navigating as the 2026 spring schedule hits full stride.

The baseball side of the conversation centers on defending a championship. BVU won both the American Rivers Conference regular season title and the conference tournament in 2025, the third time Eddie has achieved that double in his tenure. But the core that built that title largely graduated, leaving Eddie to replace four of his five top hitters and reconstruct the starting rotation after losing his top three pitchers. Sophomore Kaden Struck is among the experienced pieces anchoring the lineup as the program reloads.

The continuity Eddie has built in Storm Lake makes the challenge worth watching. BVU has appeared in the conference tournament in 16 consecutive seasons, captured five regular season titles including three of the last four, and owns four tournament championships, third most in American Rivers Conference history. During that run, the Beavers have posted a 120-51 overall record and 72-23 mark in conference play.

Utley is working through a different kind of construction project in her second year. Her 2025 squad went 7-27 overall and 0-16 in conference play, a record undermined by a string of injuries that hit the roster hard. The 2026 version of the team is healthier and deeper, but the most pressing question is a starting outfield that must be rebuilt entirely. Paige Druskis, Danica Workman, and Madalyn Elwood combined for nearly 43 percent of BVU's hit production last spring, and all three are gone, leaving Utley to develop new contributors from a mix of returners and freshmen.

Before arriving in Storm Lake, Utley spent seven seasons at Lakeland University in Plymouth, Wis., where she guided the program to a school-record 35 wins in her final year. Her first BVU season ended quietly on the scoreboard, but the program earned the Community Service Award at BVU's year-end Beaver Awards banquet and placed five players on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team, concrete signs of a program culture taking shape.

"Inside Beaver Athletics" features conversations with coaches and administrators across all Buena Vista athletic programs. With several weeks of American Rivers Conference play still remaining for both teams, the roster decisions each coach outlined will soon have answers in the standings.