The Valparaiso University baseball team continued to get strong offensive production from its junior class on Friday night in Los Angeles, as Chase Dawson (Chesterton, Ind. / Andrean), Sam Shaikin (West Hills, Calif. / Chatsworth) and Scott Kapers (Schererville, Ind. / Mt. Carmel) picked up two hits apiece in a 10-3 defeat at Loyola Marymount. The Lions roared ahead with three in the first, tacked on another three spot in the fourth and cruised to the win after their third three-run inning in the seventh.

How It Happened

• The Crusaders (4-9) had been sound defensively throughout the season, but a throwing error on a first-inning bunt allowed the Lions (4-10) to plate a pair. An unearned run crossed the dish moments later when LMU’s Jamey Smart picked up an RBI single.
• Valpo was again hurt by its defense in the fourth, when a pair of errors on the first baseman eventually led to a trio of unearned runs for the Lions, who expanded their lead from three to six.
• Kapers crushed a home run to left center in the fifth to get Valpo on the board at 6-1, then the Crusaders were awarded a run on a balk that scored Jayden Eggimann (Mesa, Ariz. / Desert Ridge [Central Arizona / Grand Canyon]) in the seventh.
• The Lions worked their way into the bullpen in the bottom of the seventh as starter Jon Tieman (Crystal Lake, Ill. / Prairie Ridge) had his day end after 6+ innings. He allowed eight runs on nine hits, but only four of the tallies were earned.
• Before the seventh inning was said and done, Loyola Marymount had mounted its third three-run frame of the game. The Lions added one more in the eighth on an RBI single to left by Smart, then Kapers scored the final run of the game in the ninth as Dent reached on an error.
• Loyola’s Codie Paiva picked up the win and improved to 2-2 after allowing one run on five hits over six innings, while Tieman took the defeat to fall to 1-2.
• Chet Joslyn (Battle Creek, Mich. / Lakeview) and Jake Laron (Irvine, Calif. / Woodbridge) logged an inning apiece out of the bullpen for Valpo and each allowed one run.

Inside the Game

• Kapers had two of Valpo’s three extra-base hits with his double and home run. The long ball was the second of the season for the Valpo catcher, who now leads the team in batting average at .396. Kapers has five home runs in his career.
• Dawson and Shaikin each had their sixth multi-hit game of the season, while this marked multiple hit game No. 5 for Kapers this year.
• Jamey Smart led the way for Loyola Marymount with four hits and three RBIs.

Up Next

Valpo will continue the three-game set with the Lions on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT. A live video stream is available via the WCC Network.