After dropping the opener of
Saturday’s doubleheader 2-1 in 10 innings, Valparaiso
fought back in the night cap to earn a split with Butler, downing the Bulldogs 7-2 in game two
at Emory G. Bauer Field.
Valpo started the offense
early in game two as Kyle Muhlsteff
(Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza H.S.) led off the opening inning with a double
and moved to third when Justin Frane
(Huntertown, Ind./Carroll H.S.) reached on a fielding error. With one out, Robbie Robinson (Brea,
Calif./Olinda H.S.) singled into
left, putting the Crusaders on top 2-0.
Two batters later, Steven Scoby
(Delton, Mich./Delton
Kellogg H.S.) tripled home Robinson, giving the Brown and Gold a three run
advantage.
Kyle Gaedele
(Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect H.S.), who had his 15-game
hitting streak snapped in the opener, led of the third with his seventh triple
of the season, tying Ken Manning (1989) and Rob Hadrick (1997) for most three-baggers
in a season in school history. Gaedele
scored one batter later on a sacrifice fly by Robinson.
Butler (18-24, 8-11 Horizon) cut the lead in half in the
fifth. A two out single by Andrew
Eckhardt followed by a double by Brian Padove pulled the Bulldogs within 4-2 at
the halfway mark.
The Crusaders immediately
answered, scoring two more times in the fifth.
Robinson singled home Frane with one out and scored himself on a two out
single by Karch Kowalczyk (Peru, Ill./La Salle-Peru H.S.).
Valpo tacked on one more
insurance run in the sixth as Andrew
Bain (Indianapolis, Ind./Park Tudor H.S.) led of the inning with
a single and moved to third on Muhlsteff’s 20th double of the
season, one shy of the school’s single season record. A wild pitch then scored Bain with the game’s
final run.
Damon McCormick
(Louisville, Ky./Saint Xavier H.S.) went the distance to
earn the win (5-1) for Valpo, scattering just six hits and allowing the two
runs. He struck out six and walked just
two. Jared Earle suffered the loss (3-2)
for Butler,
allowing six runs, only two of which were earned, and eight hits in five
innings of work.
Robinson led the Crusaders
with four runs batted in while Scoby and Muhlsteff also had two hits each as
Valpo pounded out 10 for the game.
The opener was a pitcher’s
dual between Bryce Shafer (Wabash, Ind./Northfield
H.S.) and Mike Hernandez. Shafer went
nine strong innings while Hernandez went all 10 as the Bulldogs earned the
extra innings victory.
Butler manufactured the game’s first run in the second
inning. Corey Moylan and Kyle Schultz
led off with singles and moved up 90 feet following a sacrifice bunt. Michael Letzter scored Moylan on a sacrifice
fly to right field to give the Bulldogs the lead.
Shafer worked out of a bases
loaded, one out jam in the sixth, ending the inning with a strikeout and a fly
out before Valpo tied the game in the bottom of the inning. McCormick led off with a walk and moved to
third on a hit-and-run single by Muhlsteff, one of three hits for the senior in
the game. Scoby then scored McCormick on
a sacrifice fly to right, tying the game at one.
Shafer went nine innings,
allowing just five hits and three walks while striking out 11 before giving way
to Gaedele in the 10th. Kyle
Waggoner led off the inning with a walk and moved up on a single by Grant
Fillipitch. Another single by Moylan
plated the Bulldogs’ winning run as the Crusaders went scoreless in the bottom
of the inning against Hernandez.
Shafer’s 11 strikeouts give
him 225 for his career, moving him past Tom Starck into fourth place on Valpo’s
career list.
Hernandez allowed just eight
hits and one walk in the 10-inning win (4-3), striking out six. Gaedele suffered the loss (0-1) in relief.
Muhlsteff led the Crusaders
with three of the team’s eight hits while Moylan had a three-hit effort for the
Bulldogs.
Valparaiso (19-27, 7-7) will remain at Emory G. Bauer Field on
Tuesday afternoon as the Crusaders host Northern Illinois. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.