Valparaiso (12-10, 1-1 MVC)
March 21-23 - Southern Illinois (13-14, 5-0 MVC)
3 p.m., 2 p.m., noon

Next Up in Valpo Softball: After 22 games away from home to open the 2025 season, the Valpo softball team finally gets to take the field at the Valpo Softball Complex this weekend, as the Beacons host Southern Illinois for a three-game series beginning on Friday afternoon.

Previously: The Beacons closed out preconference play with a 4-1 win at Northern Kentucky, and then split a pair of games to open MVC play at Indiana State, losing 6-2 before winning 3-2 in 11 innings. The final game of the series against the Sycamores was canceled due to weather and field conditions.

Looking Ahead: Valpo heads to the Windy City for its second matchup of the season with DePaul next Wednesday before returning home to host a three-game Valley series against Evansville next weekend.

Following Valpo Softball: The entirety of this weekend's series is scheduled to be broadcast live on ESPN+. All home games and most MVC road games will be broadcast on ESPN+, while select nonconference games will have video streams depending on the host.

Head Coach Mike Armitage: Mike Armitage (81-77) is in his first season as head coach of the Valpo softball program after being hired as head coach on June 6, 2024. Armitage came to Valpo following a successful stretch as head coach at Minnesota State University Moorhead, turning around the Dragons' program, and brings familiarity with the Missouri Valley Conference with a stint on staff at Illinois State. Armitage spent the last three seasons as head coach at MSUM, posting the first back-to-back 30-win seasons in MSUM program history in 2023 and 2024 after inheriting a Dragons program which had not finished above .500 since 2007.

Series Notes: Valpo is just 1-14 all-time against Southern Illinois, with that one win coming in the first meeting between the two programs as MVC opponents - a 7-6 Valpo win on March 30, 2018. The Salukis have won the last 13 in the series, including wins by scores of 11-0, 12-0 and 9-1 in Carbondale March 17-19, 2023.

Scouting the Opposition: Southern Illinois enters the weekend with a 13-14 overall record, but has won eight games in a row - including each of its first five MVC games. Emma Austin leads three Salukis hitting above .300 with a .384 average, while Jackie Lis has scored a team-best 19 runs and Anna Carder paces SIU with 24 RBIs. In the circle, five different pitchers have seen work, led by McKenzie Newcomb, who is 9-5 with a 2.26 ERA and has struck out 78 batters in 71.1 innings of work.

An Early Home Opener: With Valpo's first home game slated for Friday, the March 21 date for the home opener is the program's earliest since the 2015 squad opened at home with a March 20 game against Green Bay. The 2012 team also had a March 20 home opener, the only other time the home opener has been earlier than this season.

Winning Record Into Conference: With their win over Northern Kentucky last week before heading to Indiana State, the Beacons entered MVC play with an 11-9 overall record. It was the program's best record at the start of conference play since 2018, when Valpo entered its first season of MVC play with a 12-8 mark.

Wiping the Scoreboard: Valpo played its longest game since joining the MVC last Saturday, as the Beacons took down Indiana State in 11 innings. It was Valpo's longest game since going 11 innings in a 4-3 loss in Horizon League play to Oakland April 28, 2017.
The Beacons' previous longest conference games since joining the Valley were a pair of 10-inning contests they split last season against Bradley.

Nearly Fit To Be Tied: It was a good thing Valpo scored when it did in that 11-inning contest on Saturday, as rain started about 15 minutes after the final pitch and then Sunday's action was canceled. It was nearly just the third tie game in program history, as Valpo tied Purdue in nine innings in 2005 and in five innings in 2011 - both at home due to darkness.

Pulling Out the Close Ones: That 11-inning win improved Valpo's record this year to 6-2 in one-run contests. Valpo was just 8-11 in one-run games over the last two seasons. Notably, three of those wins came in one weekend, as all three of the Beacons' wins at the Marshall tournament came by a single tally.

Newcomer of the Week: Junior Azalya Lopez received weekly recognition from the MVC office this week, as she was honored as the Valley Newcomer of the Week. Lopez stood out in her pair of relief appearances in the circle, earning wins in both outings as she posted a 0.58 ERA, a .073 batting average against and a 0.42 WHIP in 12 innings of work. She opened the week with three shutout innings out of the bullpen to pick up the victory in Valpo's mid-week win at Northern Kentucky. Then on Saturday at Indiana State, Lopez entered in relief with two runners on and nobody out in the third inning and got out of the situation without surrendering a run. She went on to throw nine innings of relief, allowing just two hits and two runs (one earned) while striking out eight batters — one off her season high. Lopez capped the victory at the plate by driving in the game-winning run in the top of the 11th inning. In her first season as a Beacon, Lopez ranks second in the MVC in batting average against (.192), fourth in ERA (2.21) and fourth in wins (6).

Turning the Lineup Over: Sophomore Kayden Krug might be batting in the nine-hole in the Beacons' batting order, but it's not because she's the team's ninth-best batter. Krug has excelled at the bottom of the lineup, slashing .563/.632/.625 in six appearances out of the nine spot. Over three games last week, Krug went 5-for-8 with two walks and a hit batter in 11 plate appearances. She went 2-for-2 with a walk, a stolen base and two RBIs in the win at NKU, and then reached base four times in the extra-inning win at Indiana State with two hits (including a double), a walk and a hit batter. Krug scored two runs in that win over the Sycamores, including the game-winning tally in the 11th inning.

V Stands For Very Good: Freshman Madison Vrastil continued the strong start to her collegiate career last week, going 4-for-12 with two walks and two stolen bases in the Beacons' three games. She posted a multi-hit game in the series opener at Indiana State and now owns 12 multi-hit games on the year, matching Regi Hecker's mark from last season which was the most by a Valpo player since 2017. Four of those multi-hit games have been three-hit efforts, the most by a Valpo player since Jaymee Lawton had four such games in 2018.

Going Streaking: Vrastil has been on base at least once in each of the first 22 games of her collegiate career, the longest on-base streak by a Valpo player since Sam Stewart reached in 29 consecutive contests in 2017 and tied for the fourth-longest on-base streak by a Valpo player since 1999. Vrastil is also carrying an active 13-game hitting streak into this week, the program's longest hitting streak since Carly Trepanier reeled off at least one hit in 16 straight games in 2017.

Among the Best: Vrastil leads the MVC in batting average (.462) and hits (36); ranks second in OPS (1.126) and stolen bases (10); ranks third in on-base percentage (.523); ranks fourth in triples (2); ranks sixth in doubles (7); and ranks ninth in slugging percentage (.603). Nationally, she ranks 37th in batting average.

Going to the Pen: Valpo has leaned on a trio of pitchers - junior Azalya Lopez, sophomore Sydney McDermott and freshman Erin Metz for the vast majority of innings in the circle and hasn't hesitated to use multiple arms in the same game, even when things are going well. In fact, the Beacons have just one complete game through 22 games this season. Last week, over Valpo's three games, starting pitchers tossed just 10 innings, while relievers threw 14 innings.

K Zone: The Valpo pitching staff has taken care of business itself quite often through the season's first 22 games. The Beacons rank 21st nationally in strikeouts per seven innings (6.98) and 30th in strikeout/walk ratio (2.67). All three primary pitchers are among the top-10 in the MVC in strikeouts (Lopez, 4th, 54; McDermott, 8th, 47; Metz, 10th, 45), while Erin Metz ranks 45th individually nationally, averaging 8.3 strikeouts per seven. In the extra-inning win over Indiana State, Metz and Lopez combined for 12 strikeouts - the most for Valpo pitchers in a game since tallying 12 strikeouts against Saint Louis March 6, 2020.

Going Deep: The Beacons connected on a pair of homers last weekend at Indiana State. Junior Lexi Szostak went deep in the series opener, the first round-tripper of her collegiate career. Junior Mack Gallagher then connected on a two-run shot Saturday in the win over the Sycamores, her third long ball this season after hitting 17 in her two seasons at MSU Moorhead. After not recording a home run in the season's first 13 games, Valpo has hit four in the last nine games.

W5: While Valpo saw a winning streak came to an end at the hands of Cleveland State to close the Scotsman Invitational, the Beacons did reel off five consecutive victories dating back to opening weekend. It was the program's first five-game winning streak since the 2022 team won five in a row in early-season action.

Snowmen: Valpo posted eight runs in each of its two games in Saturday action at Presbyterian, the first time the program has scored eight or more runs in consecutive games since plating nine and 10 runs in back-to-back outings against Detroit in April 2017.

A Big Sunday: It was a noteworthy day on many fronts on Sunday, Feb. 9 as the Beacons run-ruled Green Bay, 12-1, and followed with a 7-2 win over Detroit Mercy:
- Valpo won two games on the same day for the first time since March 4, 2023, when the Beacons defeated Bellarmine and Eastern Illinois. 
- The Beacons' 19 runs were the program's highest single-day output since plating 22 runs in a doubleheader split at Northern Kentucky March 25, 2017. 
- The 11-run win over the Phoenix in the opener was Valpo's largest win since an identical 12-1 score in a victory at Stetson March 1, 2020.
- The Beacons racked up 16 hits in the win over Green Bay, their highest single-game hit total since a 16-hit effort against Holy Cross Feb. 19, 2022.
- Valpo's win in the nightcap was its 36th win all-time against Detroit Mercy, the most in program history against a single opponent.

Four For 44: Sophomore Kayden Krug was locked in at the plate in the win over Green Bay on opening weekend, picking up base hits in four consecutive innings from the second through the fifth as she went 4-for-4 with two RBIs. It was the first four-hit game by a Valpo player since Feb. 19, 2022, when Ryan Milkowski tallied four base hits against Holy Cross. It also was the first time a Valpo player has recorded a base hit in four consecutive innings since April 2, 2010, when KC Boldt did so at Detroit.

Who's Back: Valpo returns 13 of 21 letterwinners from its 2024 squad for the 2025 campaign. The returnees accounted for 51.7% of the team's plate appearances and 46.3% of the Beacons' innings pitched last season.

Who's New: Coach Armitage brought a pair of transfers with him from MSU Moorhead - junior infielder Mack Gallagher and junior pitcher/infielder Azalya Lopez, both of whom were All-Conference honorees. In addition, the program welcomes nine freshmen this season as well.

A Large Roster: Do the math from the above two notes, and you find that this year's Valpo softball roster is comprised of 24 players. That is the largest roster in program history, topping the previous high of 21 players. Even more notable is that only two of this year's 24 players are seniors.

Taking Advantage of the Numbers: Coach Armitage has shown a willingness to utilize his large roster as much as possible. 20 players saw action against Butler and Cleveland State, while 19 players apiece appeared in the wins over Green Bay and Detroit Mercy opening weekend and in the second game against Loyola at Marshall.