Valparaiso matched a program record for runs in a single
game to cap off a Horizon League doubleheader sweep at Detroit The Crusaders took the opener, 10-0, before
exploding for an 18-2 win in the nightcap.
Junior KC Boldt (Red Wing,
Minn./Red Wing) matched Crusader single-game records, which go back a dozen
years, with four hits and six RBIs in the second game. on Friday afternoon.
The 18-run output matched
the effort in an 18-7 win over Notre Dame a quarter-century ago on April 20,
1985. The Crusaders put up multiple runs
in all five innings of Friday’s record-setting win, including five-run innings
in the second and fifth frames. Valpo’s
18 hits in the nightcap also set a new single-game mark for the dozen years
that records are available.
“Regardless of who we
play, we have to go out and play hard,” said Crusader head coach Randy Schneider. “That’s what we’ve been trying to get our
team to do and they’ve really responded to it over the past few games. This has been a great opportunity to get all
our players some time either pitching or hitting and playing the field, and
every player is responding and playing well.
We are playing some very good softball as a team right now, and we just
have to continue doing that.”
Boldt earned a rare
starting assignment in left field in the second game and took advantage to
break out with a career game, tallying RBI singles in each of her first three
at-bats before capping her tremendous 4-for-4, 6-RBI day with a no-doubt 3-run
homer to center field in the fifth inning.
The junior had entered Friday’s action with just three career hits and
four career RBIs.
“We’re all very proud of
the job KC did for us today,” said Schneider.
“She dealt with illness in the early stages of this season and really is
just rounding back into form. She
stepped in today when we called on her to start and obviously had an incredible
day. I thought Tori hit the ball very
well as well that second game, and Sadie had a tremendous day in both
games. We moved Sadie into the four-hole
in the lineup a few games back, and she has really taken that responsibility on
well.”
Sadie Conner (Washington, Ill./Washington)
and Kelsey Phalen (Batavia,
Ill./Batavia)
got the Crusaders off to a strong start in the nightcap. Conner tallied an RBI double in the first
inning and Phalen an RBI groundout to give Valpo a 2-0 lead after one
frame. Following Boldt’s first RBI
single, Conner tallied a two-run double and Phalen followed by turning on a
high pitch for a two-run homer to left-center field to push the Crusader
advantage to 7-0.
Boldt picked up another
of her RBI singles in Valpo’s next at-bat, with a three-run homer by Jordan Rutkowski (Alden, N.Y./Alden)
capping a four-run third inning to make it 11-0 Valpo. Detroit answered with two runs in its half of
the third, but Tori Brown (Harrison,
Ohio/Harrison) produced an RBI double and Boldt her third RBI single of the
game in the top of the fourth to make it an 11-run game again. Jessie
Marinec (Alsip, Ill./Marist) and Lisa DeBruzzi (Carlisle, Mass./Concord-Carlisle) each tallied RBIs in the fifth
inning before Boldt’s three-run bomb capped the scoring.
Conner went 3-for-3 with
two runs scored and three RBIs in the nightcap, while Phalen and Rutkowski each
also drove in three runs. Brown went
3-for-4 with three runs scored, while Marinec also had a three-hit performance. In the circle, Jill Jacobson (Beecher, Ill./Beecher) struck out three hitters in 1.2 innings of
work in her starting assignment, while Amanda
Bolton (Phoenix, Ariz./Horizon
[Arizona]) and Shaleigh Jansen (Ottawa, Ill./Ottawa Township) each saw work as well at
pitcher. The latter earned the victory
to improve to 4-3, throwing 2.1 innings of one-hit ball while striking out five
batters. Stefanie Morong took the
complete-game loss for Detroit,
falling to 0-4.
The opener saw Valpo take
the lead in the top of the first thanks to a two-run long ball to left-center
off the bat of Conner. But that would be
the only output for the Crusaders in the first three innings, as Detroit hurler Anna Bondy
shut them down early. Alex Lagesse (Beecher, Ill./Beecher)
kept Valpo in the lead, however, allowing just one baserunner in the first
three frames.
The Crusaders finally got
the offense going in the fourth, putting up four runs on four hits while also
taking advantage of a couple of Titan errors.
DeBruzzi picked up an RBI infield single, while Jacobson and Sara Strickland (Phoenix, Ariz./Horizon)
posted back-to-back RBI doubles later in the inning. The final inning brought four more Valpo runs
across the plate to cap the scoring, as Jennifer
Hermanson (Beecher, Ill./Beecher) drew an RBI walk, Strickland
tallied an RBI groundout and Joylyn
Ichiyama (Torrance, Calif./Redondo Union) added an RBI single.
Conner, DeBruzzi,
Ichiyama and Phalen all had multi-hit games in the opener, while Conner also
scored three runs and drove in two. The
junior third baseman closed the day 5-for-7 with five runs scored, five RBIs
and four extra-base hits. Lagesse earned
the win in the circle, improving to 9-3 after striking out five in four innings
of work, while Carrie Franson (Arlington, Wis./Poynette)
closed out the game with a hitless inning in the fifth. Bondy took the loss for Detroit (2-15, 0-5 Horizon), falling to 2-6
this year, but gave up just two earned runs in her four innings.
Valparaiso (22-7, 4-0 Horizon) closes out the three-game
series against the Titans with a single game on Saturday at 11 a.m. CDT. Live stats and live chat will be available
for the game at www.valpoathletics.com.