The Valparaiso University baseball team held the lead for much of the game on Saturday afternoon at Memphis, but the host Tigers scored three in the seventh to tie the game and pushed across the decisive tally in the bottom of the ninth to walk off with a 4-3 victory over the Beacons.

How It Happened

• The scoring started in the top of the first, when Valpo worked three walks and collected three hits to post two runs. Kyle Schmack (Wanatah, Ind. / South Centrla) ripped a run-scoring single and Spencer Warfield (Fullerton, Calif. / Servite) walked with the bases loaded to account for the two runs.
• Valpo starting pitcher Colin Fields (Libertyville, Ill. / Libertyville) had a strong day on the mound, scattering four hits and three walks over six shutout innings while notching eight strikeouts. Memphis stranded runners at second and third in the second, then threatened and failed to score again in the third, when they left the bases juiced.
• The Tigers left two more on base in the fourth, then Fields fanned a pair as part of a 1-2-3 fifth. The Valpo righty faced the minimum again in his final inning of work, when he permitted a leadoff single but eventually induced a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play.
• The Beacons went to the bullpen in the seventh, an inning that saw Memphis score three times on three hits and three walks to tie the game at three.
• An error and a double started the bottom of the ninth, then a walk-off single with one out lifted Memphis to the win. The deciding tally was unearned. The E1 that started the last of the ninth was the only error of the game charged to either team.

Inside the Game

• Fields lifted his career total to 159 strikeouts with his eight on Saturday. This marked the ninth time in his career that he’s recorded eight or more strikeouts in a game.
• It didn’t take long for Valpo to play its first one-run game of the season, which occurred in the second game of 2022 on Saturday. Last season, Valpo competed in 15 one-run games, posting a 7-8 record in such contests. The team played 10 one-run games in Missouri Valley Conference play alone last year.
• Reigning MVC Freshman of the Year Kaleb Hannahs (West Terre Haute, Ind. / West Vigo) accounted for three of Valpo’s five hits, reached base four times and scored two of the team’s three runs. This marked the fifth time in his career that he has posted three or more hits.
• Hannahs and Brady Renfro (Antigo, Wis. / Antigo) each had doubles to account for the team’s two extra-base knocks.
• Memphis stranded 11 runners on bases, while Valpo left eight.
• Dalton Kendrick pitched the final two innings for Memphis and allowed no runs on one hit to earn the win, while Nathan Chasey (Ames, Iowa / Gilbert [Indiana Hills CC]) took the defeat after allowing one unearned run on one hit and two walks in 1 2/3 innings.  

Up Next

Valpo (0-2) and Memphis will close out the three-game series at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Links to live audio and stats are available on ValpoAthletics.com.