Raveling’s walkoff homer lifts BVU past Dubuque, ends 41-game skid

Maddy Raveling turned a tight April afternoon at the BVU/SLHS Ball Fields into one of Buena Vista University’s biggest softball moments in years, lifting a full-count pitch over the left-field fence with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to beat the University of Dubuque 3-2. The freshman’s walkoff homer did more than split the doubleheader. It ended BVU’s 41-game American Rivers Conference losing streak and delivered the Beavers their first league victory of the 2026 season.

BVU entered the seventh inning down 2-0 and looked headed for another frustrating finish before the rally started to build. The inning opened with a strikeout and a popout, but the Beavers kept the line moving and put pressure on Dubuque until Raveling stepped in and worked the count full. After a pair of foul balls, she sent a pitch well beyond the fence in left to finish the comeback. Raveling went 2-for-3 with a walk, two RBI and a run scored, while three of BVU’s five hits came in the final inning.

Karlee Noe added a hit and finished 1-for-2 with a sacrifice, and Rylie Garner went the distance in the circle. Garner threw a complete game, allowing nine hits and hitting one batter as BVU held on through the early deficit and late surge. The result left Buena Vista at 1-9 in American Rivers Conference play and 7-27 overall, a record that shows how rare the breakthrough was in the standings and how badly the program had needed it.

The streak dated to April 29, 2023, when BVU last won a conference game, a 7-1 victory over Wartburg in Storm Lake after dropping the first game of that doubleheader 11-3. The Beavers had also been swept at Dubuque on April 22, 2023, helping stretch the drought across multiple seasons and multiple opponents. By the time Raveling’s homer cleared the fence, the weight of that run of losses had become part of the backdrop in Buena Vista County.

For BVU, the win was about more than one game in late April. It gave the program a rare conference result to build on and handed Storm Lake a result that stood out immediately in a season otherwise defined by losses. In a league where every weekend can shape the standings, one freshman’s swing finally gave Buena Vista something it had been chasing for nearly three years.