The Valpo softball team came out on the right side of a pair of one-run games on Friday to open action at Marshall March Madness in Huntington, W.V. A three-run homer from Mack Gallagher (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East [MSU Moorhead]) was the big blow in a 5-4 victory over Loyola, while Azalya Lopez (Corona, Calif./Eleanor Roosevelt [MSU Moorhead]) had her best start in the circle in a Valpo uniform in the Beacons' 2-1 win over Buffalo.
 
How It Happened – Loyola

• The Ramblers jumped all over the Beacons in the top of the first, pushing three runs across the plate.
• Valpo had its answer in the bottom half of the frame, evening things up in its first turn at the plate. Madison Vrastil (Oak Forest, Ill./Andrew) led off with a double and Lopez walked to put two on with one out for Gallagher, who drove a 1-1 pitch over the wall in left center to tie the game at 3-3.
• Loyola regained the lead in the top of the third, taking advantage of a leadoff triple to pull in front, 4-3.
• Once again, the Beacons responded immediately. Valpo loaded the bases without the aid of a hit, as Lopez and Gallagher drew walks and Kaia Garnica (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) was hit by a pitch to fill the bags with one out. Lexi Szostak (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park) came through with the clutch hit, a two-run single to left to give Valpo the 5-4 lead.
• Erin Metz (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) had to wiggle out of a couple jams in the circle to keep the Beacons in front. The Ramblers put runners on second and third with one out in both the fourth and fifth innings — Metz was able to induce a double play grounder in the former frame and picked up a key strikeout for the second out in the latter inning before getting a pop-up to keep Loyola off the board.
• Lopez entered in relief to retire the final four Ramblers, as she and Metz combined to set down the last eight Loyola batters in order to preserve the win.

 
How It Happened – Buffalo

• It took the Beacons all of eight pitches to take the lead for good against the Bulls. Vrastil led off the game with a four-pitch walk and eventually came around to score on an RBI single by Gallagher.
• Lopez escaped trouble in the bottom of the first after Buffalo loaded the bases with one out, striking out back-to-back hitters to maintain the one-run lead.
• Consecutive base hits with two outs doubled Valpo's lead in the top of the fourth, as Szostak singled and Sophia Leitzen (Orfordville, Wis./Brodhead) brought her in with a run-scoring double.
• Valpo carried the two-run lead into the bottom of the seventh, and while Buffalo got back-to-back hits with two outs to halve its deficit and put the potential tying run in scoring position, Metz got a fly ball to left to close out the victory.

 
Inside the Games

• Friday's victories were the eighth and ninth of the season for the Beacons. The program has already matched its season win total from 2024 and surpassed its win total from 2023.
• This is the quickest Valpo has made it to nine wins since the 2018 team started out 9-4.
• The pitching of Metz and Lopez was the story of the day, as the pair combined to give up just one run in their 11.1 innings in the circle.
• Metz earned the win against Loyola with three shutout innings of relief, striking out four to improve to 2-1 on the season. She then threw the seventh inning against Buffalo for her third save, already tied for eighth in a single season in program history and tied for ninth on the career chart.
• Lopez picked up her first save as a Beacon as she retired all four batters she faced against Loyola. The junior turned around and started against Buffalo, allowing just three hits in six shutout innings while striking out nine — a season high and one off her career best
• At the plate, Vrastil tallied her fifth double of the year against Loyola and later recorded a hit, a walk and a stolen base versus Buffalo. The freshman has reached base safely in all 15 games this year, Valpo's longest on-base streak since 2017 — Sam Stewart had separate streaks of 29 and 16 straight games reaching base that year, while Carly Trepanier had an 18-game streak of her own that same season.
• After hitting 17 home runs in her two seasons at MSU Moorhead, Gallagher went deep for the first time in the Valpo uniform with her three-run bomb against Loyola. She also picked up a walk in that win.
• Lopez drew two walks against the Ramblers, while Kayden Krug (Milford, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) had a hit and a walk in that contest as well.
• In the win over Buffalo, Leitzen had her third multi-hit game of the season as she went 2-for-3, while Szostak reached twice with a hit and a walk as well.

 
Next Up
Valpo (9-6) continues action from Marshall on Saturday. The Beacons take on Loyola for the second time this weekend at 10 a.m. CT before facing the host Thundering Herd at 3 p.m. CT. The latter game will be streamed live on ESPN+.