Valparaiso (5-15, 0-0 Mid-Con)
Game #21 at Butler (10-15, 3-6 Horizon)
Tues., April 3, 3 p.m. CDT - Indianapolis, Ind.
Exhibition at Fort Wayne Wizards
Wed., April 4, 5 p.m. CDT - Fort Wayne, Ind.
Games #22-23 vs. Robert Morris (Ill.) (9-11)
Thurs., April 5, 1 p.m. CDT (DH) - Valparaiso, Ind.
Games #24-25 at Southern Illinois (21-8, 4-2 MVC)
Sat., April 7, 2 p.m. CDT - Carbondale, Ill.
Sun., April 8, 1 p.m. CDT - Carbondale, Ill.

This Week in Crusader Baseball: Valparaiso has a busy week on the diamond beginning Tuesday afternoon when the Crusaders head to Indianapolis to face Butler. Valpo plays an exhibition game on Wednesday at the Fort Wayne Wizards before hosting Robert Morris (Ill.) in a twinbill on Thursday. The week wraps up with single games at Southern Illinois on Saturday and Sunday.

On the Air: Wednesday's game against the Fort Wayne Wizards will be carried live online at www.sportsjuice.com. In addition, game one of Thursday's doubleheader against Robert Morris will be carried on WVUR (95.1-FM, Valparaiso) and online at www.valpo.edu/athletics.

Pitching Rotation: Nick Mazzone (1-3, 3.52 ERA) is slated to take the mound for the Crusaders at Butler. Dallas Cawiezell (1-2, 9.00) will get the start at Fort Wayne on a day intended for the entire pitching staff to pitch. Harvey Yergin (0-4, 5.00) and Ranko Ivetic (1-2, 9.88) are set to start Thursday's doubleheader against Robert Morris. This weekend at Southern Illinois, Elliott Gibbs (1-2, 4.79) and Mazzone are slated to throw from the hill.

Wrapping Up Last Week's Action: Valpo opened the week dropping a 5-0 decision against future Horizon League foe UIC in Chicago on Tuesday. The Crusaders won one out of four over the weekend at Indiana State as Elliott Gibbs allowed just two unearned runs in an 11-2 victory in game on of Saturday's doubleheader. The Sycamores won the other three games 9-5, 17-5, and 8-5. On the week Mark Schoeck hit .417 with his first career homer while Michael Arensdorff and Brian Rzepka each hit .333. Defensively, the Crusaders committed 11 errors in the five games.

Arensdorff Hits Regularly: Fifth-year senior Michael Arensdorff continues to get on base with regularity. He started the season with a nine-game hitting streak, only to see it snapped at North Carolina State. Since then he has hit safely in each of the last 10 games, his second streak of the year of nine or more games. Arensdorff has at least one hit in 19 of the 20 games this season.

Rzepka's Hitting Streak Extends to 12 Straight: Brian Rzepka hit continued his hot hitting last week, recording at least one base hit in each game. The Crusaders' senior centerfielder now has extended his hitting streak to 12 straight games.

Gibbs Shines in Crusader Victory: After missing most of the last three seasons with an arm injury, Elliott Gibbs turned in a masterful outing in Valpo's win at Indiana State. The fifth-year senior did not allow an earned run or a walk while pitching a complete seven-inning contest, striking out six.

Let's Play Two: Thursday the Crusaders will now play a doubleheader against Robert Morris (Ill.) instead of the previously scheduled single game. The twinbill begins at 1 p.m. at Emory G. Bauer Field and will be two seven inning games.

Rzepka Leads Valpo in RBIs: Brian Rzepka had three more runs batted in last week for the Brown and Gold to extend his team lead to 18 driven home on the campaign. Dallas Cawiezell is second on the team with 12 RBIs.

Arensdorff Leads League in Hitting: Michael Arensdorff saw his average dip just under the .400 mark even after collecting seven hits last week. His .395 batting average leads the Mid-Continent Conference by eight points though. As a team, Valpo's .277 batting average ranks third in the league.

Mazzone Among League Leaders: Nick Mazzone is among the top pitchers in the Mid-Continent Conference for the first part of the season. The fifth-year senior left-hander is third in the league allowing opponents to hit just .230 against him while also tied for third with a 3.52 earned run average.

Reynolds Flawless in the Field: Colin Reynolds has not committed an error in 83 chances this season, the third highest total on the team. Reynolds has appeared mainly at first base after playing third base most of last season.

Cawiezell Does His Job with Runners in Scoring Position: Dallas Cawiezell is hitting .444 (8-for-18) with runners in scoring position. He is a perfect 5-for-5 in driving in a runner that is on third base with less than two outs this season.

Crusaders Get the Run Home from Third: The Crusaders have been successful at driving home the runner on third base with less than two outs 70.8% of the time this season. Dallas Cawiezell leads the way with seven RBIs in 10 opportunities.

Lazar Keeps Innings Alive: Joe Lazar is hitting .417 on the season when batting with two outs. He has five hits in 12 opportunities. On the season, the redshirt-junior is hitting .387 in nine starts behind the plate for the Brown and Gold.

Arensdorff Fourth All-Time in Total At Bats: Michael Arensdorff has moved into fourth place on Valpo's career at bats list with 698. He is just 63 at bats shy of Marc Boggio's career mark of 761. Arensdorff has 86 at bats already this season.

Rzepka Also Moves Up At Bats List: Brian Rzepka has moved into eighth place all-time with 627 career at bats following his 47 this season. He is one at bat shy of Joe Luce for seventh place in school history.

Arensdorff Closing in on Hits Record: With 34 hits this season, Michael Arensdorff now has 231 for his Valpo career. He is 20 base hits shy of Mark Pederson's school record of 251 and currently sits in third place on the Crusaders' all-time charts.

Arensdorff Also Fourth in Career Doubles: Michael Arensdorff also ranks fourth on Valpo's career two-bagger list with 49 career doubles. The fifth-year senior already has nine doubles this season to lead the team.

Yergin Ninth on Innings Pitched List: Harvey Yergin has moved into sixth place on Valpo's career innings pitched list with 253.1 over his four-year career with the Brown and Gold. With 20 more innings he will pass Jeff Brooks and move into fifth place on the career list.

Valpo Picked Sixth in Preseason Poll: The Crusaders were selected to finish in sixth place in the Mid-Continent Conference preseason poll conducted of the league's head coaches. Oral Roberts was picked to win the league crown followed by Western Illinois and Oakland. Southern Utah was tabbed fourth and Centenary fifth.