Box Score
Valparaiso pounded out a season-high 23 hits on Friday afternoon
and snapped the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s 18-game winning streak at Henry
Aaron Field with a 17-3 victory over the Panthers in Milwaukee, Wis.
Six Crusaders had at least
three hits each, with Robbie Robinson
(Brea, Calif./Olinda
H.S.) going 4-for-5 on the afternoon while driving home three. Kyle
Gaedele (Arlington Heights,
Ill./Rolling Meadows H.S.) had four RBIs,
including a two-run homer in the ninth.
Valpo jumped on top with
single runs in the first and second innings, scoring on a fielder’s choice and
an error. The Panthers tied the game at
two in the third on a double by Ben Long, only to see the Crusaders retake the
lead in their next at bat.
“We scored early and that is a
key for us,” head coach Tracy Woodson
said. “We swung the bats well, got the
lead, and added on. When a couple of guys
get hits it multiplies and the excitement builds in the dugout.”
Getting hits is what Valpo
did in the fourth. The Crusaders tallied
eight in the inning, including six straight, on the way to scoring six runs and
taking an 8-2 lead. The Panthers added a
run in the bottom of the fourth on a homer by Doug Dekoning, but that would be
the last run Valpo hurler Jon Gulbransen
(Appleton, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran H.S.) would allow
on his way to a complete game victory (4-3).
“Jon was able to overcome a
few of our defensive miscues early and kept his pitch count down,” Woodson
said. “That helped him go the distance.”
Valpo continued to pour on
the runs in the sixth, sending 11 batters to the plate while scoring seven more
times. Kyle Muhlsteff (Yorba
Linda, Calif./Esperanza
H.S.) had a two-run double to key the inning as the Brown and Gold had five
straight and four straight hits during the inning.
Gaedele’s homer in the ninth
capped off the scoring as the Crusaders snapped their three-game losing skid.
Gulbransen scattered nine
hits while allowing the three runs for his third complete game of the year, but
walked just one while striking out three.
Lucas Annen suffered the loss (1-1), surrendering 11 runs and 14 hits in
three innings of relief.
Steven Scoby
(Delton, Mich./Delton
Kellogg H.S.), Muhlsteff, Justin Frane
(Huntertown, Ind./Carroll H.S.), and Gaedele each had
three hits while Robinson added four more as the top five batters in the
Crusader order accounted for 16 hits. Billy Cribbs (Rochester, Mich./Rochester
H.S.) also had three hits for the Brown and Gold, his fourth three-hit night of
the season. Frane, who extended his
hitting streak to 15 straight games, and Gaedele both scored three times as
well.
Valparaiso (18-22, 6-3 Horizon) and Milwaukee (18-19, 7-6) will close out their
three-game weekend series on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader. First pitch of the twinbill is set for 1 p.m.
at Henry Aaron Field.