The Valparaiso University baseball team has announced its schedule for the 2025 season, which is slated to begin in mid-February.
Head coach Brain Schmack's squad will begin the campaign with a three-game series at Samford of the Southern Conference (Feb. 14-16). The Beacons took two of three to open the 2024 season against the Bulldogs, who are coming off a 36-win campaign. The early-season docket continues with a three-game set at Memphis (Feb. 21-23) of the American Conference, a team that Valpo has played 14 times including the first three games of the 2022 season.
The Beacons are scheduled to play the earliest home games in program history (Feb. 28 - March 2) against a Niagara team that went 38-17 overall and 20-4 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) en route to a league title and NCAA Regional appearance last year. Valpo did not play at home until March 19 in 2024 and March 28 in 2023.
After the early-season home weekend, Valpo will be back on the road for 15 straight, starting with a set at Ohio State (March 7-9), a 29-win Big Ten Conference club in 2024. That trip will continue with a visit to national baseball powerhouse Vanderbilt (March 11) of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), a 38-win NCAA Regional team last year against whom Valpo played a competitive, one-run game.
The Beacons will head to Illinois (March 14-16) to play the Illini in the final nonconference weekend series. Illinois went 35-21 overall and 18-6 in the Big Ten Conference last season on their way to the NCAA Regional. After a midweek game at Ball State (March 18), Valpo begins league play against instate foe Indiana State (March 21-23), the defending MVC regular season champions and a team that won two NCAA Regional games as part of a 44-win season in 2024.
After a midweek visit to Purdue (March 25), Valpo will continue a stretch of playing the first six MVC games on the road against NCAA Regional teams from a year ago. Valpo will visit defending MVC Tournament champion Evansville (March 28-30), a team that won 39 games including a regional title and made an NCAA Super Regional appearance last year. Valpo will play 10 of its first 24 games against NCAA Regional teams from a year ago.
The Beacons return home for a midweek vs. Milwaukee (April 1) and the team's first home MVC series vs. Illinois State (April 4-6). Other MVC home series include Murray State (April 17-19), UIC (May 2-4) and Southern Illinois (May 15-17). Other MVC road journeys include Missouri State (April 11-13), Belmont (April 25-27) and Bradley (May 9-11). Midweek games the rest of the season are as follows – at Notre Dame (April 15), vs. Northern Illinois (April 22), vs. Western Michigan (May 6) and at Northwestern (May 13).
