May 08, 2022123456789RHE
DBU0120301108111
Valparaiso000030000371
PitchingIPHRERBBSO
Win: Eldred (4-2) 5.063307
Loss: McCluskey (2-3) 4.165434
BattingABRHRBIBBHR
Grady (DBU) 513100
Jones (DBU) 433211
Thurston (VALPO) 411100
Hannahs (VALPO) 401000
Schmack (VALPO) 401100
Renfro (VALPO) 401000
Tucker (VALPO) 401000
Maka (VALPO) 301010
Ryan (VALPO) 411100
BoxscorePlay-by-Play
Baseball Falls to DBU in Series Finale
Sunday, May 8, 2022
Baseball Falls to DBU in Series Finale
Jake Kapers scored on Alex Ryan's fifth-inning triple on Sunday.

The Valparaiso University baseball team dropped Sunday’s series finale with Dallas Baptist 8-3 at Emory G. Bauer Field. Valpo did all of its scoring in the fifth inning in a game where seven different Beacons recorded a hit.

How It Happened

  • DBU made two outs on the bases in the top of the first as Valpo cut down a player who had singled and was caught between first and second on a 9-6-3 putout and a player trying to score on an infield bouncer to short.
  • DBU scored first on a bases-loaded walk in the top of the second, but that inning could have been worse for the Beacons as the Patriots had the bases full with the run in the bank and only one away. Griffin McCluskey (Normal, Ill. / Normal Community) got a strikeout and flyout to keep the deficit at one.
  • A two-run DBU homer in the third made it 3-0, then the Patriots added three in the fifth to expand the gap to 6-0.
  • The Beacon bats came to life in the bottom of the fifth as Alex Ryan (Lake Mills, Wis. / Lakeside Lutheran) delivered an RBI triple before trotting home on a double by Alex Thurston (Fowler, Ind. / Benton Central). Thurston later crossed the dish on a bouncer by Kyle Schmack (Wanatah, Ind. / South Central) to make it 6-3.
  • DBU led off the seventh with a home run to up the edge to 7-3, then another single tally in the top of the eighth capped the scoring. Bobby Nowak (Cedar Lake, Ind. / Hanover Central [Kankakee]) worked a perfect ninth with two strikeouts after Nathan Chasey (Ames, Iowa / Gilbert [Indian-Hills CC]) had yielded one run on three hits over two innings.

Inside the Game

  • Seven of the nine Valpo batters produced a hit, but no one had a multi-hit output.
  • Ryan’s triple was his team-leading fourth of the season.
  • McCluskey took the loss after allowing five runs (four earned) on three walks and four strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.
  • Three of Valpo’s seven hits went for extra bases.
  • DBU entered the weekend with the No. 5 RPI in the nation.

Up Next

Valpo (14-28, 3-12 MVC) will not play a midweek game this week due to final exams taking place before the Beacons return to action for a three-game weekend series against Bradley beginning at 3 p.m. on Friday at Emory G. Bauer Field.