2021 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 Valparaiso (14-33, 9-19 MVC) 2021 Schedule and Results at Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Date Opponent Time/Result Itchy Jones Stadium | Carbondale, Ill. Feb. 19 at UAB W 6-2 Feb. 20 at UAB L 8-2 Tuesday, May 25, 2021, 7 p.m. CT vs. Missouri State (21-22, 11-13 MVC) – Rhodehouse (R) Feb. 21 at UAB L 4-1 Wednesday, May 26, 2021, 10 a.m. CT vs. DBU (33-15, 18-6 MVC) Feb. 26 at Jacksonville State L 5-4 Thursday, May 27, 2021, TBD Feb. 27 at Jacksonville State (DH) L 10-2 Friday, May 28, 2021, TBD Feb. 27 at Jacksonville State (DH) L 13-3 March 12 at Middle Tennessee State L 5-2 Saturday, May 29, 2021, 2:30 p.m. & 7 p.m. (if nec.) March 13 at Middle Tennessee State (DH) W 5-0 (7) March 13 at Middle Tennessee State (DH) W 3-2 (8) Next Up in Valpo Baseball: For the second consecutive Missouri Valley Conference March 14 at Middle Tennessee State L 5-0 Tournament, Valpo will match up with Missouri State in the opening round after the two March 19 at Western Kentucky L 8-4. teams completed the regular season against one another. Much like 2019, Valpo finished March 20 at Western Kentucky W 8-6 (11) the regular year by incurring a road sweep at the paws of the Bears. Eighth-seeded Valpo March 21 at Western Kentucky L 11-1 March 23 at #14 Notre Dame L 6-3 will face off with fifth-seeded Missouri State for the fifth consecutive game on Tuesday, March 26 at Butler L 5-4 (10) this time with the season on the line in a win-or-go-home round to begin the MVC Tour- March 27 at Butler (DH) W 7-1 nament. If Valpo prevails on Tuesday, it will advance to the double-elimination portion March 27 at Butler (DH) L 13-10 of the event and take on top-seeded DBU on Wednesday at 10 a.m. April 1 at DBU* L 6-1 April 2 at DBU* (DH) L 8-4 April 2 at DBU* (DH) L 9-8 Last Time Out: Valpo was swept in a four-game weekend series at Missouri State, April 3 at DBU* L 5-2 however all four games were close contests. Three of the four were decided by one run, April 7 Eastern Illinois CCD and the other game saw Valpo hold the lead as late as the seventh inning. Parker Johnson April 9 at Oakland CCD held a team-high .333 batting average with three runs scored during the series, while April 10 at Oakland (DH) CCD Kyle Schmack posted a .308 mark. Valpo boasted strong pitching, particularly in the April 10 at Oakland (DH) CCD April 11 at Oakland CCD first and fourth games of the series, which were 2-1 defeats. Trent Turzenski delivered April 16 at #23 Indiana State* L 5-0 an eight-inning complete game and took a tough-luck loss in Saturday’s regular-season April 17 at #23 Indiana State* (DH) L 11-2 finale. He allowed two runs on five hits and struck out six, an effort that helped Valpo April 17 at #23 Indiana State* (DH) L 6-2 preserve the bullpen for Tuesday’s conference tournament opener. April 18 at #23 Indiana State* L 12-1 April 23 Southern Illinois* (DH) W 7-6 On the Air: All games during the tournament will air on ESPN+. The conference broad- April 23 Southern Illinois* (DH) W 4-3 April 24 Southern Illinois* L 10-4 cast teams for the event include Scott Warmann, Shane Dennis, Art Hains and Connor April 25 Southern Illinois* W 4-2 Onion. Links to live video and stats will be available on ValpoAthletics.com. April 27 at #8 Notre Dame L 8-7 April 30 Illinois State* W 3-2 Series Notes – Missouri State: Valpo hopes to break through with its first-ever victory May 1 Illinois State* (DH) L 12-3 over Missouri State on Tuesday. The Brown & Gold hold an 0-13 mark in a series that May 1 Illinois State* (DH) W 17-13 May 2 Illinois State* W 7-6 dates back to 1985. The Bears ended Valpo’s season in 2019, as the teams met four May 7 at Bradley* (DH) L 9-5 straight games, three to close the regular season and one in the MVC Tournament. Valpo May 7 at Bradley* (DH) W 2-1 is hoping history will not repeat itself this week. The 10 MVC regular-season matchups May 8 at Bradley* (DH) L 3-2 have all gone Missouri State’s way, but eight of the 10 have been determined by two May 8 at Bradley* (DH) W 10-3 runs or fewer. Eleven of the 13 matchups have occurred since Valpo joined The Valley May 11 #8 Notre Dame L 7-4 with the other two coming in 1985 and 1987 (and amazingly enough, current Missouri May 14 Evansville* L 13-6 May 15 Evansville* (DH) W 5-1 State head coach Keith Guttin was at the helm for those matchups, too). May 15 Evansville* (DH) L 12-9 May 16 Evansville* L 11-9 (10) All-Time Record vs. Remainder of the Field May 20 at Missouri State* L 2-1 DBU: 3-13 May 21 at Missouri State* (DH) L 7-6 (8) Indiana State: 30-50-1 May 21 at Missouri State* (DH) L 9-4 May 22 at Missouri State* L 2-1 Bradley: 15-20 May 25 vs. Missouri State (Carbondale, Ill.) 7 p.m. Illinois State: 12-24-1 May 26 vs. DBU (Carbondale, Ill.) 10 a.m. Southern Illinois: 9-4 May 27-29 at MVC Tournament (Carbondale, Ill.) Evansville: 39-24 All Times Central * - MVC Game *** REFERENCING VALPO *** Please refer to our team as Valparaiso or Valpo. The University has voted to retire the Crusader mascot name, effective February 2021. 2021 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 Senior Salute: This year’s senior class features four players who have been staples in the program for the last five seasons after making immediate impacts as freshmen in 2017. 2021 Valley Standings This will mark the final conference tournament for the veteran quartet of RHP Jon Tieman, Final RHP Easton Rhodehouse, OF Steven Fitzsimmons and OF Riley Dent. In addition, LHP Team MVC Pct. Overall Pct. Josh Currier, a senior in his fourth year in the program; SS Damon Jorgensen, who is DBU 18-6 .750 33-15 .688 in his third year at Valpo after transferring from Coffeyville; and OF Jonathan Temple, Indiana State 14-10 .583 27-17 .614 who is in his second season with the Brown & Gold after transferring from Modesto Bradley 12-10 .545 20-20 .500 JC, are coming down the final stretch of their collegiate careers. Graduation details and Southern Illinois 15-13 .536 38-18 .679 future plans for each senior are listed below. Missouri State 11-13 .458 21-22 .488 - Jonathan Temple is a communication major with a minor in economics. The Turlock, Calif. native’s future plans include starting a marketing career in the Midwest. Illinois State 12-15 .444 22-32 .407 - Damon Jorgensen has earned a degree in communication and plans to work for Cintas Evansville 11-16 .407 28-26 .519 beginning in June. Valpo 9-19 .321 14-33 .298 - Josh Currier is a nursing major with a minor in psychology and will graduate from Valpo in May 2022 with his BSN and plans to start his career on a medical surgery floor. - Riley Dent completed his undergraduate degree in marketing in May 2020 and will Around The Valley finish his MBA in August 2021. Tuesday, May 25 - Steven Fitzsimmons completed his degree in political science with minors in business Game 1: Illinois State vs. Evansville, 2:30 p.m. administration and communication in May 2020 and will finish his MBA in August 2021. Game 2: Missouri State vs. Valpo, 7 p.m. - Easton Rhodehouse is a 2020 Valpo graduate with a degree in political science and will finish his MBA in August 2021 and move to Denver to pursue a career in finance. Wednesday, May 26 - Jon Tieman is a 2020 Valpo graduate with a degree in finance and minor in business Game 3: DBU vs. Game 1 winner or Valpo, 10 a.m. analytics. Upon completing his MBA this August, the Crystal Lake, Ill. native will pursue Game 4: Indiana State vs. Game 1/2 winner, 2:30 p.m. a job in finance in the Chicagoland area. Game 5: Bradley vs. Southern Illinois, 7 p.m. Close Calls: Valpo has played in 14 one-run games this season and holds a 6-8 mark Thursday, May 27 in such contests. The team played in 10 one-run affairs in MVC action, going 5-5. The Game 6: Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, 10 a.m. 14 one-run games mark Valpo’s most in a single season since also having 14 during the Game 7: Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 5, 2:30 2018 season, and the 10 in league play marked its most since playing 16 one-run games Game 8: Winner of Game 4 vs.