Freshman Kevin Denty (Tinley Park, Ill. / Marian Catholic) went deep twice while the team slugged three home runs on Friday as the Valparaiso University baseball team opened its spring trip with a 9-4 victory over Elon in North Carolina. Chase Maifield (Fox Lake, Ill. / Grant [Augustana]) also drilled a three-run shot on a day where newcomers accounted for three Beacon blasts.

How It Happened

• Starting pitcher Connor Lockwood (Libertyville, Ill. / Libertyville) worked three up, three down in the first inning of his first appearance since April 2, 2023 after recovering from Tommy John surgery.
• Valpo started the scoring when Denty drilled his first dinger of the day to lead off the second inning, a blast to center field. Maifield followed with a double down the right-field line and crossed the dish when Kade Reinertson (Huxley, Iowa / Ballard Community) stroked a single to center.
• Lockwood worked a flawless second inning but ran into trouble in the third, when he was touched for three runs (two earned) including a home run. A two-run single put the Phoenix ahead 3-2.
• The Beacons wrestled the lead right back in the fourth, an inning that started with Denty lifting his second big-fly of the game, once again to start an inning and this time to right field. Alex Ryan (Lake Mills, Wis. / Lakeside Lutheran) tripled with one away and scored as Reinertson doubled down the left-field line to make it 4-3 Valpo.
• Elon made a pitching change with two runners on base and one away in the fifth, and Maifield greeted the new man on the mound with a three-run homer to right to extend the lead to 7-3.
• Valpo added on in the sixth thanks to a pinch-hit single by Carson Husmann (Hanna, Ind. / South Central [Bradley]) and a sac fly by Denty to make it 9-3. The middle part of the game featured four shutout innings by Trent Turzenski (Burlington, Wis. / Burlington), who earned the win while allowing just one hit and one walk and recording four strikeouts.
• The Phoenix pushed across a run in the eighth, but nothing further against Jake Jakubowski (Lake in the Hills, Ill. / Huntley [Heartland]), who worked around three walks by allowing just one hit while hurling the final two innings.

Inside the Game

• Denty went 4-for-4 with two home runs, three runs scored and three RBIs. The last Valpo player to enjoy a multi-homer game was Jake Skrine on May 19, 2023 vs. Illinois State.
• Denty’s home runs were the first of his collegiate career, while Maifield hit nine over the course of his four seasons at Augustana before his first Beacon big fly on Friday.
• Maifield and Reinertson joined Denty with multi-hit games.
• Ryan’s triple was the fifth of his career and first since 2022.
• The Beacons outhit the Phoenix 11-5.
• The win came over a team that won 33 games last season.

Up Next

Valpo (3-5) is currently scheduled to play at No. 1 Wake Forest on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT. Check back to ValpoAthletics.com or @ValpoBaseball on Twitter for updates regarding potential schedule changes for Saturday.