The Valparaiso University baseball team fell 3-2 on Tuesday night at Nicholls State in Thibodaux, La. Valpo scored twice in the sixth to tie the game, but Nicholls prevailed on a walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth.

How It Happened

• Senior Easton Rhodehouse (Gilbert, Ariz. / Highland) started and tossed three shutout innings as the two teams were scoreless through three. He yielded two hits and issued no walks while fanning three.
• Nicholls (7-6) struck first with a run in the bottom of the fourth as Mason Turner reached on an error in the outfield and a run scored. Turner was credited with a sacrifice fly.
• The lead doubled in the fifth on a two-out single through the right side to give the Colonels a 2-0 edge.
• Valpo got on the board in the sixth as senior Riley Dent (Long Beach, Calif. / Wilson) lashed a run-scoring single to left to slice the deficit in half. The Brown & Gold then tied the game as Damon Jorgensen (Blair, Neb. / Blair [Coffeyville]) scored on a Troy Jones (Orland Park, Ill. / Carl Sandburg [Triton]) fielder’s choice bouncer.
• Senior Jon Tieman (Crystal Lake, Ill. / Prairie Ridge) returned to the mound and worked 1 1/3 shutout innings. He did not yield a hit and struck out two while walking two.
• Valpo nearly grabbed the lead in the seventh when Kyle Schmack (Wanatah, Ind. / South Central) tried to score on a fly ball in foul territory off the bat of Jorgensen, but Schmack was ruled to have left early and was out upon appeal.
• With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, Turner delivered the walk-off single.

Inside the Game

• Dent put together his third straight multi-hit game and his fifth for the season.
• Tucker also had two hits, the second multi-hit output of his rookie campaign.
• This marked Valpo’s first one-run game of the season and first since May 16, 2019, a 5-4 loss to Missouri State.
• Cade Evans got the win with three shutout innings of relief for Nicholls. Montana Quigley (Lake Forest, Calif. / El Toro) worked a scoreless eighth but took the defeat after yielding the winning tally in the ninth.
• This was the third time in 11 games this season that Valpo has permitted three runs or fewer. Valpo also allowed just three tallies on Feb. 17 at Western Kentucky and Feb. 21 at No. 3 Louisville.
• Tieman saw his first action since the Feb. 15 season opener and made his second appearance of the season after missing time with an injury.

Up Next

Valpo (1-10) will begin a three-game weekend series at Georgia Southern on Friday night in Statesboro, Ga. The game is slated for 5:30 p.m. with links to live video, audio and stats available on ValpoAthletics.com.