Valparaiso (14-8, 2-1 Horizon)
March 29 - IUPUI (13-17, 3-0 Summit)
March 31 & April 1 [DH] - Youngstown State (11-17, 3-0 Horizon)
Next Up in Crusader Softball: The Valparaiso University softball team gets to showcase its talents at home at the Valpo Softball Complex this week, with four games scheduled to kick off this season's home slate. The Crusaders will open the week with a non-league matchup against IUPUI on Wednesday before hosting Youngstown State for a three-game Horizon League series on Friday and Saturday. The program will be sponsoring a "Be The Match" bone marrow registry drive throughout Saturday's doubleheader, starting at 10 a.m.
Previously: Valpo fell in extra innings to Loyola early last week in non-league action before traveling to Northern Kentucky to kick off Horizon League play. The Crusaders claimed the three-game set from the Norse, two games to one, as Valpo won the opener (7-4) and the finale (13-5), but dropped the middle game of the series (12-9).
Looking Ahead: The Crusaders are slated to travel to Green Bay for a mid-week Horizon League series next week, facing the Phoenix in a single game on Tuesday and a doubleheader on Wednesday.
Following the Crusaders: All four games this week will have live stats, while the series against Youngstown State will be broadcast live on ESPN3. All league home games and select road games will will be available on ESPN3, WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
Head Coach Kate Stake: Kate Stake was hired as head coach of the Valparaiso softball program on July 23, 2014 and is in her third season as head coach, owning 48 victories. Stake led the Crusaders to the 2016 Horizon League Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament - the third in program history. Stake arrived at Valpo with eight seasons of assistant coaching experience at the Division I level, most recently serving as an assistant at mid-major power Hofstra.
Series Notes: Former conference rivals, Valpo and IUPUI will be matching up for the 59th time on the softball field Wednesday. The Crusaders hold a 32-26 advantage in the all-time series, but the Jaguars have won the last three meetings - most recently a doubleheader sweep in Indianapolis on April 1, 2015.
Valpo owns a 32-11 advantage in the series versus Youngstown State and leads 24-7 since joining the Horizon League prior to the 2008 campaign. Last season saw the Penguins sweep a three-game series in Youngstown, but Valpo won the most important matchup, 10-6, to open the Horizon League Championship in Chicago.
Scouting the Opposition: IUPUI enters the week at 13-17 overall, with a Tuesday matchup against Butler on the docket prior to Wednesday's game. Four Jaguar hitters are hitting at better than a .320 clip, led by Maggie Good, who hits .341 with a team-best eight home runs. Nickole Finch has seen more than half the innings of work in the circle and owns a 9-7 record with a 4.38 ERA.
YSU is just 11-17 on the year, but has won its last six games entering this week, including a three-game sweep of Oakland to start Horizon League play. Maddi Lusk was named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Week last week and is now 7-7 with a 2.40 ERA on the year. Hannah Lucas owns a team-best .306 batting average has scored 14 runs.
Crusaders Picked Third in Preseason Poll: Valparaiso was picked to finish in third place in the Horizon League standings in 2017 in the preseason poll, as picked by the league’s head coaches. UIC claimed seven of the nine first-place votes and finished with 62 points, while Wright State received the other first-place nod and 55 total points. The Crusaders tallied 47 points in the polling.
Looking Back at 2016: The 2016 season saw Valpo make a run for the ages, as the Crusaders needed a win on the final day of the regular season just to make the Horizon League Championship. But once there, Valpo more than proved it belonged, rolling through the first three days of the tournament before rallying from a four-run deficit in the seventh inning to defeat Wright State and claim the Horizon League title and the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. Returning award winners in 2017 include Carly Trepanier (Second Team All-League; All-Tournament Team), Sam Stewart (league tournament MVP) and Lanie Callaghan (league tournament batting champion).
Experienced, Yet Youthful: The 2017 Crusader softball team features a distinct mix of veterans and newcomers. Seven starters return from last year's lineup, but the Crusaders also welcome nine first-year players to the program this season - seven of whom are true freshmen.
Back Home Again, In Indiana: The Crusaders open the home schedule this week after playing their first 22 games of the season away from home. Valpo posted a 8-5 record at the Valpo Softball Complex last season, and has finished .500 or better at home in every season since 2009.
Bats Lead the Way: With the wind blowing out all three games in the league-opening series last weekend at NKU, the Valpo offense took full advantage. The Crusaders hit at a .370 clip in the three-game series, connecting for eight home runs and scoring 29 runs. The team's batting average on the year jumped 15 points to .288 by the end of the series, while the team's slugging percentage skyrocketed 41 points to .454 on the season.
Calombaris Claims Award: Senior Jorgi Calombaris was named the league Player of the Week by College Sports Madness after a strong series to open league play at NKU. She helped carry Valpo to a win in the series opener, connecting on her second homer of the year to open the scoring and then delivering the game-winning three-run double in the seventh inning. The senior then went 4-for-7 with a double and a pair of RBIs in Saturday's twinbill, finishing the week hitting .467 with three runs scored and six RBIs.
Turning Over the Lineup: Freshman Gabby Magnifico has found her spot in the nine hole in the Crusader lineup as a rookie, helping to turn over the lineup to the top of the order. Last week, Magnifico enjoyed her strongest week to date this year, going 3-for-8 with five walks, good for a .615 on-base percentage. She scored a team-best six runs last week, and also connected on a pair of home runs at NKU - her second and third round-trippers of the season.
Rookie Pitchers Deliver Strong Performances: While offense was the name of the game last week, Valpo's pair of freshman pitchers each had the strongest outing of their young careers over the last few games. Emily Richardson entered last Tuesday's game at Loyola out of the bullpen in the second inning and held the Ramblers down, throwing four innings of shutout softball while surrendering just one hit and not allowing a runner past second base. Then, on Saturday at NKU, Lindsay Zdroik earned her first collegiate victory as she gave up just one run in 4.2 innings of relief work as Valpo claimed the win in the series finale.
One Final Turn At Bat: Trailing 4-3 entering the seventh inning against South Dakota March 18, Valpo scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to claim a come-from-behind 5-4 win. Three games later, in the series opener at NKU, the Crusaders trailed 3-2 entering the seventh before exploding for five runs in a 7-4 win. How rare is that? Valpo was 10-308 (.031) when trailing after six innings since 1999 prior to the game against the Coyotes. The Crusaders are now 2-6 on the year when trailing after six innings - matching the most come-from-behind wins in such situations in a single year since at least 1999.
Weekly Honors: Kenzie Grossmann was named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Week by the league office on March 20, giving Valpo four league weekly awards in as many weeks of competition to open the season, after Valpo had had just five total honorees the last three years. Perhaps most impressively, the four awards went to four different Crusaders.
March 20 - Kenzie Grossmann - Pitcher of the Week - 2-1, 5-hitter in win over South Dakota State, 11 strikeouts in 12.1 innings
March 13 - Ashlyn Montgomery - Pitcher of the Week - 1-1, 1 save, 1.11 ERA, .229 opponent batting average, 4-hitter at #9/11 Alabama
March 6 - Carly Trepanier - Player of the Week - 9-for-15 (.600), 4 runs scored
Feb. 20 - Sam Stewart - Player of the week - 6-for-11 (.545), 1.727 SLG, 4 home runs, 8 runs, 7 RBIs
High Five: The Crusaders' win over Stony Brook on March 3 was their fifth consecutive to open the season, setting a new program record for the best start in team history at 5-0. Valpo had previously started 4-0 in 1986, 2000 and 2002, but all three of those squads dropped their fifth game of the season.
