Will Hagel hit his first collegiate homer in the opener. (Dave Schofield)
Valparaiso won its opening game on Tuesday afternoon at Chain of
Lakes Stadium in Winter Haven,
Fla. for the 1,100th victory in
school history, defeating Saint Bonaventure 17-13. The Crusaders then dropped
the night cap 16-8 against Maine.
In the opener against the
Bonnies, the Crusaders fell behind 3-0 in the second before erupting for six
runs in the bottom half of the frame. Will Hagel (Arlington
Heights, Ill./Prospect H.S.)
started the uprising with his first collegiate homer while Kyle Gaedele (Arlington Heights, Ill./Rolling Meadows
H.S.) added a two-run double in the inning.
Saint Bonaventure answered
tied the game in the third before the Crusaders scored a pair in the bottom of
the third to take an 8-6 lead. An
unearned run in the seventh made it 9-6 Valpo on a Robbie Robinson (Brea,
Calif./Olinda H.S.) double before
the Bonnies closed within one in the fifth following a homer and two doubles.
Valpo put up a three spot in
the sixth on four hits, and added a run in the seventh, only to see Saint
Bonaventure tie the game with two in the seventh and three in the eighth.
A single by Damon McCormick (Louisville,
Ky./Saint Xavier H.S.) broke the tie in the
eighth before Justin Frane (Huntertown, Ind./Carroll
H.S.) plated two more with a double.
Gaedele added a single for the fourth run in the frame to cap the
scoring.
Valpo tallied 17 hits in the
contest, including three each from Gaedele and Kyle Muhlsteff (Yorba
Linda, Calif./Esperanza
H.S.) while Frane drove home five runs and Gaedele added three more.
McCormick (1-0) earned the
victory in relief for the Crusaders while Jordan Crane suffered the loss (0-1)
for Saint Bonaventure (0-4).
In the night cap against Maine, Valpo jumped on
top 5-0 in the first two innings.
Gaedele had a two-run single in the second to cap a five RBI day for the
sophomore.
The Black Bears cut into the
lead with two in the second on a single and added five more in the third, including
a pair of unearned runs, to take the lead, taking advantage of six walks as
well.
Run-scoring singles by Ryan O’Gara (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Buffalo
Grove H.S.), who extended his hitting streak to 10 straight games dating back
to last season and a RBI ground out by Robinson tied the game in the third.
Maine took the lead with a
single run in the sixth, the broke it open in the seventh with eight more,
capped by a three-run homer by Michael Fransoso. A Bo
McClendon (Chesterton, Ind./Merrillville H.S.) single plated
Valpo’s final run in the eighth.
Frane had four hits in the
second game, giving him six on the day to lead Valpo’s 11-hit attack in the
night cap. Maine (2-5) got four RBIs each from Fransoso
and Joey Martin while banging out 13 hits.
Justin Latta earned the win
(1-0) for the Black Bears while Steve Godawa (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Buffalo Grove H.S.) suffered the loss (0-1) for the
Brown and Gold.
“It has been tough for us to
play in the 20-30 mile per hour winds the last three games,” head coach Tracy Woodson “Our pitchers are better than what they have
shown.” said.
Valparaiso (2-6) will return to action on Wednesday with a 2
p.m. CST contest against Western Michigan at Lake Myrtle Stadium in Auburndale, Fla.
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