CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The 2023 American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Baseball Tournament is set for Thursday, May 11 – Saturday, May 13. Buena Vista University (29-7, 20-3 A-R-C) claimed the conference championship on Friday, April 28^th, to earn the tournament’s number one seed. The Beaver’s earned back-to-back regular season titles to bring the program to 17 total conference championships.
 
The 2023 A-R-C Baseball AQ Tournament begins on Thursday, May 12^th with five games scheduled. The majority of the tournament will take place at PG Cares Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. However, the opening round game between No. 3 Loras and No. 6 Wartburg will take place at the Robert W. Plaster Athletic Complex on the campus of Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The other game taking place at Mount Mercy are the losers of the No. 3/6 and No. 4/5 games at 3:00 p.m.
 
During the regular season conference play, the Beavers’ three loses all came in different series. Buena Vista will face the winner of No. 4 Coe College (22-15, 14-10 A-R-C) and No. 5 University of Dubuque (26-12, 13-10 A-R-C) in what will be the tournament’s third game. The Kohawks won the regular season series against the Spartans 2-1 (8-0, 1-9, 7-5). The two teams played each other on April 7^th and 8^th.
 
In the regular season, Buena Vista defeated Dubuque in both games played (11-5, 6-5) before the third game of the series was cancelled due to inclement weather. The Beavers took all three games against Coe (12-2, 11-6, 9-6) on April 14^th and 15^th.
 
Luther College (24-16, 17-7 A-R-C) enters the conference tournament having earned the number two seed in this year’s field and a first-round bye. Loras College (25-15, 15-9 A-R-C) is seeded third and will square off with sixth-seeded Wartburg (14-19, 9-15 A-R-C) in the opening round at Mount Mercy. The Norse await the winner of Loras/Wartburg for a match-up in the tournament’s fourth game. The Duhawks and Knights last saw each other On March 24^th and 25^th in the first regular season series and it was Loras who came out on top. Loras defeated the Knights two games to one in three hard fought games (7-3, 1-3, 2-1).
 
During the regular season, the Norse defeated Wartburg all three games in the series (9-2, 14-13, 11-6) while losing two of the three games to Loras (2-12, 9-3, 8-9).
 
Who will take home the American Rivers Conference Tournament title and earn the automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championships? Stay up to date using the links below.
       
American Rivers Conference Tournament Schedule
Thursday, May 11:
Game 1 – 11:00 a.m. – No. 3 Loras vs. No. 6 Wartburg (Mount Mercy)
Game 2 – 11:00 a.m. – No. 4 Coe vs. No. 5 Dubuque (Veterans Memorial Stadium)
Game 3 – 2:00 p.m. – Game 2 Winner vs. No. 1 Buena Vista (Veterans Memorial Stadium)
Game 5 – 3:00 p.m. – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser (Mount Mercy)
Game 4 – 5:00 p.m. – Game 1 Winner vs. No. 2 Luther (Veterans Memorial Stadium)
 
Friday, May 12 (All Games at Veterans Memorial Stadium):
Game 6 – 12:00 p.m. – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner
Game 7 – 3:00 p.m. – Game 5 Winner vs. Lower Seeded Loser of Games 3&4
Game 8 – 6:00 p.m. – Game 7 Winner vs. Lower Seeded Loser of Games 3&4
Exception: If one of the Game 3 or 4 losers already has had a bye, that team will play in Game 7, regardless of seed.
 
Saturday, May 13 (All Games at Veterans Memorial Stadium):
Game 9 – 11:00 a.m. – Game 8 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser
Game 10 – 2:00 p.m. – Game 6 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner
Game 11 – 5:00 p.m. – Game 6 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner (if necessary)
 
Sunday, May 14 is a permissible rain date.
   
The winner of the double-elimination tournament receives the American Rivers Conference’s automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA Division III Tournament. The regional round takes place May 18-21 followed by the 16-team super regional round the following weekend. Eight teams will emerge from the super regional round to line up at GP Cares Field at Veterans Memorial stadium for the NCAA Division III Baseball Championships June 2-8. The American Rivers Conference and the Cedar Rapids Kernels (High A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins) will host the Division III Championships for the final year in 2023. To purchase tickets or find out more on the 2023 NCAA Division III College World Series, visit the championship page by CLICKING HERE.