Sunday, March 16, 2008

Game 1 Box Score

Game 2 Box Score

                For the second straight day Valparaiso posted a game two victory to earn a doubleheader split with Dayton on Sunday afternoon.  After the Flyers won the opener 9-3 in game one of the twinbill, the Crusaders posted a 4-3 victory in eight innings in game two in Dayton, Ohio.

                Valpo jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the nightcap.  Mark Schoeck (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine H.S.) drove home a run in the third with a single.  Dan DeBruin (Combined Locks, Wis./Kimberly H.S.) plated two in the fourth with a hit, including an error that scored the second run of the frame.

                Dayton (9-4) cut the Crusader lead to 3-1 with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning and a Kevin Miller two-run double in the sixth tied the contest at three, forcing extra innings.

                Schoeck’s RBI single in the eighth plated Josh Wallace (Bellfontaine, Ohio/Bellfontaine H.S.) with the winning run for the Crusaders.

                Each team had just four hits in the game and Steve Godawa (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Buffalo Grove H.S.) earned his first collegiate victory (1-1) with two innings of scoreless relief for the Crusaders.  Bryce Shafer (Wabash, Ind./Northfield H.S.) started and went five innings, allowing just the four hits.  Burny Mitchem (0-1) suffered the loss for Dayton.

                “Bryce pitched well for us today and Godawa has been really good for us lately,” head coach Tracy Woodson said.  “He pitched well and deserved to get the win.”

                In the opener, Dayton score six times in the bottom of the first inning.  All six runs were unearned, aided by a pair of Crusader errors, and Valpo was not able to recover.

                Zach Rodeghero (New Lenox, Ill./Providence Catholic H.S.) drove home a run for the Brown and Gold in the third with a sacrifice fly to put Valpo on the board, and two errors led to a run for Valpo on a DeBruin RBI in the fifth to cut the deficit to 6-2.

                Dayton added three more runs in the fifth inning and the Crusaders could manage just a sacrifice fly in the seventh by Jeff Greco (Mundelein, Ill./Carmel Catholic H.S.) the rest of the way.

                Chris Beesley (2-1) earned the victory for the Flyers while Elliott Gibbs (Munster, Ind./Munster H.S.) suffered the loss, working the first four innings.

                Valparaiso (4-14) will be off until next Friday evening when the Crusaders return to Dayton, Ohio to open Horizon League play against Wright State.  The first game of the three-game set is set for 5:30 p.m. CDT against the Raiders.