Valparaiso (1-4, 0-0 MVC)
Feb. 24-26 - at The Spring Games (Madeira Beach, Fla.)
Feb. 24 - vs. Siena (5-0) - 10 a.m. CT | vs. FIU (6-5) - 3 p.m. CT
Feb. 25 - vs. Dartmouth (0-0) - 10 a.m. CT | vs. UT Martin (1-4) - 12:30 p.m. CT
Feb. 26 - vs. Oakland (0-0) - 11:30 a.m. CT
Next Up in Valpo Softball: The Valpo softball team continues early-season competition with its longest trip of the year, flying down to Madeira Beach, Fla. to compete at The Spring Games. The Beacons will face Siena, FIU, Dartmouth, UT Martin and Oakland over a three-day span.
Previously: Valpo was idle from competition last weekend after opening the season by going 1-4 at the DePaul Dome Tournament, where the Beacons beat Western Illinois and fell to DePaul, SLU, Bowling Green and Eastern Kentucky.
Looking Ahead: The Beacons will head to Louisville, Ky. next weekend for the Bellarmine Round Robin, where they will play the hosts twice and Eastern Illinois three times.
Following Valpo Softball: All five of this weekend's games will be video streamed via FloSoftball (subscription required). Live stats will be available for the FIU game as well.
Head Coach Meaggan Pettipiece: Meaggan Pettipiece was hired in September 2022 as head coach of the Valpo softball program. Pettipiece brings over a decade of experience as a collegiate head coach, most recently the last three seasons at the Division I level at Akron. Prior to her time at Akron, Pettipiece spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Kent State and was head coach at Northwood for 10 years. Pettipiece, who owns 251 career coaching victories, was an All-American on the diamond and helped California University of Pennsylvania to a D-II national title in 1998 collegiately before playing internationally for Team Canada, including at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Series Notes: Siena/Dartmouth - First meetings.
FIU - FIU holds a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series and won the last matchup, 9-1, in Miami on Feb. 14, 2016.
UT Martin - Valpo is just 1-2 all-time against UT Martin, but won the last meeting, 8-4, in Chattanooga, Tenn. on Feb. 25, 2012.
Oakland - Former conference foes in the Mid-Continent Conference and the Horizon League, it's a tight all-time series between Valpo and Oakland, with the Golden Grizzlies holding a slim 21-18 edge. This is the first matchup since Valpo won a rain-shortened 1-0 game to open the 2017 Horizon League Tournament.
What’s Back: Valpo returns 10 of 18 letterwinners from last season’s squad for the 2023 campaign. In all, 40.4% of Valpo’s plate appearances are back for this season and 63.6% of last season’s inning pitched return as well.
Who’s New: This year's 16-player roster includes six newcomers donning the Brown and Gold for the first time. A quintet of freshmen - Kaia Garnica, Kimberli Rodas, Lexi Szostak, Lyna Vasquez and Cadence Augustine - are joined by Kent State transfer Autumn Acord. While Garnica was sidelined on opening weekend, the other five all made their Valpo debuts at the DePaul Dome Tournament.
Welcome to the Sunshine State: This weekend marks Valpo's longest road trip of the season as it heads down to Florida. This is the Beacons' first trip to Florida since playing at The Spring Games in Longwood, Fla. in 2020.
Hitting the Road: This weekend’s games continue a long and winding road for the Beacons before they finally get the chance to play at the Valpo Softball Complex. This is the second of four weekends of action prior to the start of conference play, as Valpo already played at the DePaul Dome Tournament and will later visit Bellarmine and Eastern Kentucky in preconference action. The Beacons have a mid-week game at Illinois leading into their conference-opening weekend at Southern Illinois before finally opening the home slate at the Valpo Softball Complex March 24 versus Illinois State. All told, Valpo is slated to play its first 22 games of the season away from home.
Walk It Out: Making her first career start in the win over Western Illinois, freshman Lyna Vasquez discovered that reaching base was as easy as 1-2-3-4. Vasquez drew a trio of full-count walks from Leatherneck pitching, tying for the third-most walks in a single game in program history and becoming the first Valpo player since April 2021 to draw three walks in a game. For the weekend, Vasquez reached base at a .556 clip, tallying four walks and a double.
A Pair of Firsts: The win over Western Illinois featured a pair of firsts for junior Emily Crompton. Crompton, who had not registered a defensive stat in her first two seasons, came up with her first career outfield assist on what proved to be a crucial out at the plate in the second inning in the eventual 1-0 victory. Crompton then delivered an RBI double for the game's lone run in the fourth inning, her first career extra-base hit.
Strong Outing From Seib: Senior pitcher Easton Seib delivered a vintage performance in the circle to earn the win over Western Illinois, scattering six hits and walking just one in the 1-0 victory. The shutout was the fourth of Seib’s collegiate career, and marked the second time she has blanked the opposition in a 1-0 victory. Seib posted a 3.00 ERA over 18.2 innings of work in three games on opening weekend.
Hersch Keeps On Running: Fifth-year infielder Taylor Herschbach continued an impressive streak to open the 2023 season, stealing a base successfully against Bowling Green. Herschbach was a perfect 13-for-13 on the basepaths last year, tying a program single-season record for most steals without being caught. In fact, Herschbach has not been caught stealing since March 7, 2020.
