The Valparaiso University baseball team received five shutout innings from four different relief pitchers and the middle infielders provided pop as shortstop Alex Thurston (Fowler, Ind. / Benton Central) and second baseman Connor Giusti (Hoffman Estates, Ill. / Fremd [Wisconsin Oshkosh]) both homered, but Northwestern prevailed 7-2 in Tuesday’s nonconference finale in Evanston, Ill.

How It Happened

• Valpo threatened in the top of the first, but left runners at the corners. In the bottom of the inning, a two-out home run by Bennett Markinson put the Wildcats ahead 1-0. Alex Ryan (Lake Mills, Wis. / Lakeside Lutheran) made a nice snag in center to end the frame.
• Northwestern pushed across a run in the second, but the inning ended when Kaleb Krier and Kade Reinertson (Huxley, Iowa / Ballard Community) combined for a strike-him-out, throw-him-out double play.
• Valpo got one back in the top of the third as Alex Thurston (Fowler, Ind. / Benton Central) led off the frame with an opposite-field home run to right to make it a 2-1 game.
• The Wildcats scored five times in the third including a three-run homer by Lorenzo Rios. That expanded the lead to six at 7-1.
• After Northwestern’s five-run third, Joe Seiber (Homer Glen, Ill. / Lockport [College of DuPage]) was summoned from the bullpen and faced the minimum over the next two innings.
• Following a scoreless frame from Grant Jablonski (Mishawaka, Ind. / Mishawaka) in the bottom of the sixth, Connor Guisti (Hoffman Estates, Ill. / Fremd [Wisconsin Oshkosh]) led off the top of the seventh with a solo shot.
• The Beacons inserted another new pitcher for the seventh and Trent Turzenski (Burlington, Wis. / Burlington) posted a zero as Northwestern stranded a pair.
• The solid bullpen work continued in the bottom of the eighth as Josh Spencer (Woodinville, Wash. / Woodinville [Tacoma]) flipped a scoreless frame. Valpo didn’t score in the top of the ninth and the 7-2 score stood as the final.

Inside the Game

• Thurston’s home run was his sixth of the season and the ninth of his collegiate career.
• Giusti’s home run was his seventh of his first year in a Valpo uniform. Five of those home runs have come in his last nine games.
• Valpo listed its season home run total to 66, moving into sole possession of second in single-season program history, behind only 2001 (81). The Beacons broke a tie with the 1985 team (64) for second in the record book.
• A pair of hits by Ryan Maka (Oak Forest, Ill. / Oak Forest) paced a seven-hit output for the Beacons.

Up Next

Valpo (14-35) will start the final series of the season on Thursday at 3 p.m. vs. No. 20 Indiana State at Emory G. Bauer Field. The game will air on ESPN+.