Baseball Game Notes
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2018 Crusader Baseball Game Notes Contact: BRANDON VICKREY Office: 219.464.5396 Valpo Sports Media Relations [email protected] www.valpoathletics.com Athletics-Recreation Center 1009 Union Street Valparaiso IN 46383 Missouri State (27-14, 10-2 MVC) 2018 Schedule and Results Date Opponent Time/Result at Valparaiso (15-24, 5-7 MVC) Feb. 16 at Alabama L 16-2 Emory G. Bauer Field | Valparaiso, Ind. Feb. 17 at Alabama L 6-5 Feb. 18 at Alabama L 12-6 Friday, May 4, 3 p.m. CT – Jon Tieman (R) vs. Dylan Coleman (R) Feb. 23 vs. Holy Cross# CCD Saturday, May 5, 1 p.m. CT – Trey Ferketic (R) vs. Logan Wiley (R) Feb. 24 at Oklahoma W 11-4 Feb. 25 vs. Holy Cross# W 20-6 Sunday, May 6, 1 p.m. CT – Wes Gordon (R) vs. Ty Buckner (R) Feb. 25 at Oklahoma L 3-2 (F/10) March 2 vs. CSUN& L 14-13 Next Up in Crusader Baseball: After hosting preseason MVC favorite DBU last March 3 at Grand Canyon W 12-6 weekend, the Valparaiso University baseball team continues its challenging slate by March 4 vs. CSUN& L 6-5 welcoming another high-level conference foe to Emory G. Bauer Field. This week, it’s March 4 at Grand Canyon W 11-7 10-2 Missouri State making its way to Valpo. The Bears were one of two MVC teams March 6 at UC Riverside L 4-3 March 7 at UC Riverside L 14-5 to compete in the NCAA Tournament a year ago. March 9 at Loyola Marymount L 10-3 March 10 at Loyola Marymount L 7-4 Last Time Out: After knocking off Top 50 RPI opponent DBU by a score of 9-2 on March 11 at Loyola Marymount L 15-5 Sunday, the Crusaders suffered a 10-7 midweek setback at the paws of the Northern March 16 at Arkansas Pine Bluff W 14-7 Illinois Huskies on Tuesday afternoon in DeKalb. The Crusaders faced a 10-0 deficit March 17 at Arkansas Pine Bluff (DH) L 6-5 March 17 at Arkansas Pine Bluff (DH) W 12-8 with six outs left to work with, but then dipped into their bag of comeback tricks with March 20 at Chicago State ppd a seven-run eighth to heighten the game’s drama. However, the Crusaders lost despite March 23 at Butler W 9-2 scoring seven runs in a frame for the second time this season as the unexpected rally March 24 at Butler CCD fell shy. Blake Billinger had two hits including his 20th double of the season, while March 25 at Butler CCD Jarrett Hammel, Luke VanLanen and Alex Dirienzo were bright spots out of the bullpen. March 27 Ball State L 13-5 March 28 at Purdue L 4-1 March 30 Bradley* L 5-4 On the Air: All three games in the series will air on 95.1 FM Valparaiso, WVUR. Ben March 31 Bradley* W 5-2 (F/10) Ariano will be joined by Spencer Krock (Friday and Sunday) and Danny Dalenberg April 1 Bradley* L 10-4 (Saturday) on the radio call. The broadcast is also available online via the TuneIn Radio April 6 at Southern Illinois* L 6-2 app. Follow @ValpoBaseball for in-game updates. Links to live audio and stats (Stat- April 7 at Southern Illinois* W 6-2 Broadcast) will be available on ValpoAthletics.com. April 8 at Southern Illinois* L 8-0 April 11 Milwaukee W 23-5 April 13 at Michigan State (DH) L 5-4 (F/12) Series Notes: The Crusaders and Bears haven’t faced off on the baseball diamond since April 13 at Michigan State (DH) W 7-6 the 1987 season, when the second of two all-time meetings between the two teams took April 14 at Michigan State CCD place. The Bears, then known as Southwest Missouri State, won 4-2 in the first game of April 17 at Illinois W 11-7 the Association of Mid-Continent Universities Tournament, which was held in Chicago. April 20 at Evansville* W 7-2 April 21 at Evansville* L 9-8 The two teams had met two years prior, when Valpo fell 2-1 in that same tournament. April 22 at Evansville* W 6-1 Missouri State will make its first ever trip to Valparaiso this weekend. April 24 at Notre Dame L 6-5 April 27 Dallas Baptist* L 8-1 Billinger Bashing Baseballs: Valpo left fielder Blake Billinger has been a force to be April 28 Dallas Baptist* L 9-3 reckoned with at the plate this season. He owns a .451 batting average in Missouri Valley April 29 Dallas Baptist* W 9-2 May 1 at Northern Illinois L 10-7 Conference play to lead all Crusaders. In addition, Billinger belted his league-leading May 4 Missouri State* 3 p.m. 20th double of the season on Tuesday at Northern Illinois, becoming the seventh player May 5 Missouri State* 1 p.m. in program history and the first since 2010 with 20 doubles in a campaign. There’s still 12 May 6 Missouri State* 1 p.m. games remaining in the regular season, and Billinger is four doubles away from breaking May 8 at Western Michigan 1 p.m. the single-season program record of 23 set by Kyle Muhlsteff in 2010. May 9 Western Michigan 1 p.m. May 11 at Illinois State* 6:30 p.m. May 12 at Illinois State* 2 p.m. Going the Distance: Wes Gordon threw Valpo’s fourth complete-game of the season on May 13 at Illinois State* 1 p.m. Sunday against DBU and became the third different Crusader pitcher to hurl a complete May 15 Chicago State 3 p.m. game this year. Weekend starters Jon Tieman, Trey Ferketic and Gordon have all gone May 17 Indiana State* 3 p.m. the distance, with Ferketic doing so twice. This marks the first season Valpo has had May 18 Indiana State* 1 p.m. three different pitchers toss a complete game since 2012, a year the team reached the May 19 Indiana State* 1 p.m. May 23-26 MVC Championship% NCAA Regional. All Times Central * - MVC Game Home games in bold and played at Emory G. Bauer Quality Wins: Valpo added to its growing list of quality wins on Sunday against DBU. # = in Norman, Okla. | & = in Phoenix, Ariz. The Patriots entered the weekend ranked 46th nationally in RPI, while Valpo also has % = in Dallas, Texas wins over Illinois, ranked 25th nationally by Baseball America at the time of the game, 2018 Crusader Baseball Game Notes Contact: BRANDON VICKREY Office: 219.464.5396 Valpo Sports Media Relations [email protected] www.valpoathletics.com Athletics-Recreation Center 1009 Union Street Valparaiso IN 46383 and Oklahoma, ranked 28th nationally by the USA Today at the time of the Valpo victory. 2018 Valley Standings Exceeding Expectations: As a Missouri Valley Conference newcomer that was picked last in the preseason poll, Valpo has exceeded outside expectations thus far this season. Team MVC Pct. Overall Pct. The Crusaders have won at least one game in all four conference series and sit in the Missouri State 10-2 .833 27-14 .659 middle of the pack in the MVC standings. They own five wins in Valley play plus a pair DBU 9-3 .750 28-15 .651 of one-run losses that could easily have the team at 7-5 instead of 5-7. Bradley 8-4 .667 26-11 .703 Southern Illinois 7-5 .583 24-21 .533 Providing an Assist: The Crusaders had the rare circumstance of garnering two outfield Valpo 5-7 .417 15-24 .385 assists in the same inning on Tuesday at Northern Illinois. Both Blake Billinger and Jayden Eggimann cut down runners trying to score. The Crusaders most recently had two Indiana State 4-8 .333 22-19 .537 outfield assists in the same inning on May 1, 2016 against UIC. On Tuesday, Billinger’s llinois State 4-8 .333 17-24 .415 outfield assist was his team-leading fifth of the year. Evansville 1-11 .083 8-30 .211 Almost Only Counts in Horseshoes & Hand Grenades: The Crusaders incurred their 10th one-run loss of the season on April 25 at Notre Dame. Nine of the 10 setbacks Around the Missouri Valley have come on the road for a team that has played the bulk of its schedule away from Friday, May 4 Emory G. Bauer Field. The Crusaders are just 1-10 in one-run decisions with the lone Missouri State at Valpo, 3 p.m. win coming 7-6 over Michigan State in the second game of a doubleheader on April 13. Bradley at Illinois State, 6 p.m. Evansville at DBU, 6:30 p.m. Six is The Magic Number: Valpo is just 1-20 this season when scoring five runs or fewer. Indiana State at Southern Illinois, 6:30 p.m. When the Crusaders score six runs or more, they own a 14-4 mark. The only time Valpo came away with a win without reaching the six-run plateau was on March 30 vs. Bradley, Saturday, May 5 a 5-2, 10-inning win. Furthermore, Valpo is 0-13 when scoring fewer than five runs. Missouri State at Valpo, 1 p.m. Bradley at Illinois State, 2 p.m. In The Other Dugout – Missouri State: The Bears will attempt to rebound from a Evansville at DBU, 8 p.m. 9-4 defeat to Kansas on Wednesday night.