Valparaiso scored
eight times in the final three innings of game one of a doubleheader on
Saturday to come from behind and earn a 12-5 victory over Butler at Bulldog
Park in Indianapolis, Ind. The Bulldogs came
back and won the night cap 14-7 though, to take the series.
“We swung the bats
better today,” head coach Tracy Woodson
said.
In the opener both
teams went down in order in the first three innings before the Crusaders found
the scoreboard in the fourth. Steven Scoby (Delton, Mich./Delton
Kellogg H.S.) and Chris Manning
(Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro H.S.) had back-to-back one-out singles before Ryan O’Gara (Buffalo Grove,
Ill./Buffalo Grove H.S.) delivered a two-run, two-out single.
Butler answered in the
bottom of the inning as Grant Fillipitch hit a two-run homer to left to tie the
game.
Valpo again scored
two runs with two outs in the fifth. Michael Morman (Rockford, Ill./Boylan
Catholic H.S.) doubled to lead off the inning.
After a two out walk to Kyle
Gaedele (Arlington Heights, Ill./Rolling Meadows H.S.), Scoby came through
with a hit to left to score both runners.
The Bulldogs took a
5-4 lead in the sixth, scoring three times, including a two-run double by
Michael Letzter.
Corey Thibault (Tustin, Calif./Foothill H.S.) led off the
seventh with his first home run as a Crusader, tying the game at five. Andrew
Bain (Indianapolis, Ind./Park Tudor H.S.) struck out, but reached base as
the throw to first went wide. After
moving to second on a balk, he then scored on a two out error.
Justin Frane (Huntertown, Ind./Carroll H.S.) came on in relief
for the Crusaders and shut down the Bulldogs.
He allowed a leadoff triple in the eighth, but then induced two ground
balls with the infield in and added a strikeout. Frane fanned six in three innings of work to
earn his first collegiate save.
“Frane was
unbelievable,” Woodson said. “He was
dominant and made his pitches. He did a
great job getting out of the inning after the leadoff triple. That gave us a lift and the excitement showed
in the dugout. We then kept adding on
runs.”
Valpo did just that,
adding six runs in the ninth. Gaedele
walked and Scoby and Manning followed with bunt singles, the latter scoring
Gaedele following an error after a dropped throw. Will Hagel
(Buffalo Grove, Ill./Buffalo Grove H.S.) added a two-run single and O’Gara
delivered his third RBI of the game with a single. Thibault capped the scoring with his second
homer of the game in the ninth, a two-run shot.
Scoby finished the
game with three hits while Manning, O’Gara, and Thibault all had two hits a
piece as part of a 12-hit attack.
Damon McCormick (Louisville, Ky./Saint Xavier H.S.) earned
the win (1-4), pitching six innings of five-run, four-hit ball. He struck out five and walked just one. Frane then earned the save.
Marcos Calderon
suffered the loss (0-1) in relief for the Bulldogs.
In game two, Gaedele
put Valpo on top hitting the fourth pitch of the game over the left-centerfield
wall for a home run. Butler tied the
game in the bottom of the first on a RBI single by Fillipitch.
An error in the
third allowed the Crusaders to retake the lead and a two-run single by Bain in
the fourth gave the Brown and Gold a 4-1 advantage.
Butler (9-10, 2-1
Horizon) took control in the fourth though, sending 13 batters to the plate and
scoring nine times. A three-run homer by
Letzter and a two-run pinch hit double by Pat Gelwicks were the big blows as
the Bulldogs took advantage of a Crusader error to score six unearned runs in
the frame.
“We didn’t make the
pitches or plays that we needed to in that second game,” Woodson concluded.
The Crusaders got
two runs back in the fifth on three hits.
Robbie Robinson (Brea,
Calif./Olinda H.S.) beat out an infield single, and when the first baseman
dropped the ball Manning scored the first run of the inning. O’Gara added his fourth RBI of the day with a
double to pull Valpo within 10-6.
The Bulldogs scored
three times in the bottom of the fifth though to put the game out of reach and
added another in the eighth.
Valpo scored its
final run in the ninth on a two-out single by Hagel to plate Scoby.
Robinson was the
only Crusader with two hits in the night cap, as Valpo managed nine hits total
in the game.
Mike Hernandez
earned the win (2-3) for Butler, working seven innings and allowing six runs on
six hits. Jon Gulbransen
(Appleton, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran H.S.) suffered the loss (1-4), allowing
eight runs, only two of which were earned, and eight hits in 3.2 innings of
work.
Valparaiso (3-19,
1-2) will close out its 23-game season-opening road trip on Wednesday afternoon
traveling to Evanston, Ill. for a 3 p.m. game against Northwestern.