Buena Vista University Men's Baseball

Nate Hanner is set for his sixth season as an assistant baseball coach with the Beavers in 2026. Since joining the staff, Hanner has been a part of three regular season conference titles and has been instrumental in coaching the defense during that time. The Beavers led the league in fielding percentage in 2025 and in three of the last four seasons, has ranked in the top-3. In 2023, it led the A-R-C in double plays turned and the fewest stolen bases allowed. In 2023, BVU had three players commit two errors or less with at least 100 total chances and had one player named to the ABCA Gold Glove Team. Prior to coming to BVU, Hanner spent two seasons as an assistant baseball coach at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville where he worked primarily as a hitting and fielding specialist.  During his tenure, the Pioneers improved by 10 wins from his first and second seasons, and in 2019, made their first conference postseason appearance since 2010. Prior to beginning his coaching career, Hanner was a four-year starter at third base for Elmira College in Elmira, N.Y. He started 94 career games and ranked seventh in program history in career at-bats (264), eighth in hits and seventh in RBI.  Hanner graduated in 2019 with a bachelor of science degree in business administration. Aside from his coaching duties with the Pioneers, Hanner spent the summer of 2019 serving as a hitting specialist with the Holly Springs Salamanders of the Coastal Plain League.  He was also an instructor at the Triple Play Academy in Antioch, Ill., from November 2018 until March of 2019, where he worked with boys of all ages to improve their skills and also prepared older players for college baseball. 

Steve Eddie has spent his entire coaching career with Buena Vista University and is set to begin his 26th year as head coach of the Beavers in 2026. Eddie, the program's all-time winningest coach, has led the Beavers to five regular season conference titles, including three of the last four. During that stretch, BVU has gone 120-51 overall and 72-23 in conference play. His teams have now made 16 straight trips into the conference tournament and has won four tournament titles which is third most in league history. The 2025 season was the third time BVU won both the regular season and tournament crowns in the same season. With back-to-back regular season titles in 2022 and 2023, it marked the first time the program had been crowned champions in consecutive season since doing so back in 1980 and 1981. Now a six-time conference Coach of the Year, Eddie has put together a career overall record of 584-409-2 and is one of three current coaches in the American Rivers Conference with at least 500 career victories. In the 25 years under Eddie's guidance, BVU has posted six 30-win seasons and has finished in the top-3 of the league's regular season standings 12 times, including five of the last six seasons. In 2014, Eddie led BVU to arguably one of the best seasons in program history.  It won a school-record 37 games (37-9) and captured both the regular season and conference tournament championships.  It began the year at 11-1 and posted multiple nine-game winning streaks throughout the season.  During conference play, BVU swept four of its six four-game weekend series and led the league in all three statistical categories (hitting, pitching and fielding). Following the year, Eddie was named Conference Coach of the Year for the third time and was also tabbed Central Region Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). BVU has made four NCAA DIII Regional Tournament appearances with Eddie leading the way. In 2011, Eddie led the program to the regional title, its first-ever NCAA Division III College World Series berth and to a then school-record 34 wins.  He was also named Central Region Coach of the Year. Following both the 2010 and 2011 seasons, Eddie was tabbed the State of Iowa's Four-Year College Baseball Coach of the Year during the annual IHSBCA Awards Banquet From 2009-2017, the Beavers won at least 20 games each year and combined to go 261-153 during that stretch, making the Iowa Conference Tournament each year.  Four of those seasons were 30-win campaigns (2016, 2104, 2011, 2010) with conference regular season and tournament championships in two of those (2014 and 2010).  In 2010, Eddie guided the program to its first regular season conference championship since 1980 and its first-ever conference tournament championship. The Beavers made their second tournament championship game in three seasons in 2012. Eddie's teams have been particularly tough to beat at home, posting a 187-108 mark, including a stellar 136-59 mark since synthetic field turf was first installed at the complex in 2009.  BVU went 13-1 at home in 2014 and won its final 12 games while going 11-2 in 2019 and winning 10 straight. Eddie has coached a total of 119 all-conference players, including 68 First Team selections. The 2014 team landed a school-record 10 all-conference players, including seven on the first team. Both marks were also matched in 2023. He has also coached 48 All-Region selections since 2010 and has had an All-American in seven different seasons, including a pair in 2014, and two more in 2019. A total of 108 players have also earned Academic All-Conference accolades over the years for their excellence in the classroom. A graduate of Albert City-Truesdale, Eddie went onto a playing career at the University of Iowa where he was an infielder on the Big Ten Championship team in 1990. At the conclusion of his college career, Eddie then spent seven seasons in minor league baseball within the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox organizations. He reached the AAA level for part of the 1999 season with both Indianapolis (Cincinnati) and Charlotte (White Sox) before ending his career with the AA Birmingham Barons (White Sox). After retiring in September of 1999, Eddie served as an assistant baseball and basketball coach at BVU while finishing his undergraduate degree in Business Management. He later earned his master's degree from Buena Vista. Steve and his wife Stacey reside in Storm Lake with sons Mark and Jake.  Both sons are currently starters on the BVU baseball team. Accomplishments Career Playing Highlights University of Iowa 1990-1993 Billings Mustangs (A) 1993 Charleston Alley Cats (A) 1994-1995 Winston-Salem Warthogs (A) 1996 Indianapolis Indians (AAA) 1996 Chattanooga Lookouts (AA) 1997-1998 Indianapolis Indians (AAA) 1999 Chattanooga Lookouts (AA) 1999 Charlotte Knights (AAA) 1999 Birmingham Barons (AA) 1999 Coaching Record Year   Overall Record   IIAC/A-R-C Record   IIAC/A-R-C Finish 2001 12-17-1 7-11 10th 2002 24-14 15-6 2nd 2003 15-24 9-10 6th 2004 18-21 6-10 t-6th 2005 18-22-1 8-8 4th 2006 14-24 5-11 t-7th 2007 18-16 11-11 5th 2008 17-17 8-12 7th 2009 27-14 13-10 5th 2010 32-13 20-4 1st 2011 34-18 16-8 2nd 2012 24-19 13-11 5th 2013 23-19 15-13 3rd 2014 37-9 22-6 1st 2015 25-16 15-13 4th 2016 33-11 22-6 2nd 2017 26-17 15-9 3rd 2018 15-23 10-12 6th 2019 26-19 15-9 t-2nd 2020* 5-2 0-0 N/A 2021 21-23 15-17 t-4th 2022 27-14 18-6 1st 2023 31-11 20-3 1st 2024 29-14 16-8 2nd 2025 33-12 18-6 1st Totals   584-409-2 332-220 --- *Season cut short due to COVID-19 pandemic

Brayden Polzien is set to begin his second season as pitching coach for the Buena Vista University baseball team in 2026. During his first season as a coach, Polzien's pitching staff led the conference in innings pitched (392.1) and strikeouts (393) and was third in ERA (4.95). It also ranked 17th in all of DIII in strikeouts per nine innings (9.0). He coached the league's Pitcher of the Year and had two All-Region selections. Polzien is no stranger to the program. He was a four-year member of the team’s pitching staff from 2021-24 and finished his career ranked fourth all-time for BVU in career appearances. He pitched in at least 10 games each season, including a career-high 16 during his senior campaign of 2024, while finishing his career with a 5-5 overall record and one save. The Henderson, Nevada native, was a key part of the program winning back-to-back American Rivers Conference regular season titles (2022 and 2023) and making an NCAA Regional Tournament appearance in 2023. He also completed an internship in the summer of 2023 at the Texas Baseball Ranch in Houston, Texas under the guidance of Ron Wolforth. It is believed to be one of the country's top training facilities for pitchers. Polzien, a three-time Academic All-Conference selection, graduated from BVU in May 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management. Aside from his coaching duties, Polzien is employed by State Farm Insurance in Storm Lake.