Valpo (20-26, 9-14 MVC)
May 2-4 - at UNI (28-17, 16-8 MVC) - 5 p.m., 2 p.m., noon

Next Up in Valpo Softball: The regular season reaches its conclusion this weekend as the Valpo softball team travels to Cedar Falls, Iowa for a three-game series at UNI. The Beacons could finish anywhere from seventh through tenth in the final MVC standings.

Previously: The Beacons dropped a 1-0 heartbreaker in midweek action at Notre Dame before taking two of three from Drake in their final home series of the season.

Looking Ahead: The 2025 MVC Tournament opens Wednesday in Des Moines, Iowa.

Following Valpo Softball: All three games will be broadcast 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 (89-93) 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 2-22 in program history against UNI, including 2-16 since joining the MVC prior to the 2018 season. One of those wins came last season, however, as the Beacons upset the Panthers in the middle game of their three-game series with a come-from-behind 5-4 win. UNI won the series opener, 5-0, and then claimed the finale in nine innings, 4-2.

Scouting the Opposition: The Panthers enter the week with a 28-17 overall record and sit at 16-8 in MVC play, good for third in the conference. Prior to the weekend series, UNI faces Iowa in midweek action. Kate Lappe and Kylee Sanders lead the Panther offense - Lappe leads the MVC with a .431 batting average and 16 home runs, while Sanders ranks second in the Valley with a .424 batting average and leads the MVC with 44 runs scored. In the circle, Anna Wischnowski has been UNI's workhorse and is 15-6 with a 2.59 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 129.2 innings of work.

Checking Out the Standings: Entering the final weekend of regular season play, Valpo sits at 10th place in the MVC standings, just one-half game back of Murray State in ninth. The Beacons cannot drop below the 10th seed in the upcoming MVC Tournament, and depending on other results this weekend, could move up as high as seventh in the final standings.

This Season's Improvement: Last weekend's pair of wins over Drake pushed the Beacons to 20 wins this season, more than they had won in the last two seasons combined. In fact, the 20 wins this year are the program's most in a season since going 27-24 in 2018 in its first year in the MVC. In addition, Valpo has nine MVC wins to its name this year, also the most since the 2018 team (12-13).

Best In a While: It's not just the wins column where Valpo is putting up numbers it hasn't seen for quite a few years. On offense, the Beacons own their best batting average and on-base percentage, have scored the most runs and drawn the most walks in a full season since 2017 - with six more walks, they would have their highest walk total since 2013. Meanwhile, Valpo's pitching staff has the team's best ERA, opponents' batting average and strikeout total since 2018.

Winning Series: Valpo took the first two games of its series with Drake last weekend to secure its third MVC series victory of the season, having previously claimed series against Bradley and UIC earlier in the calendar. It is the first time since 2018 Valpo has won at least three series in MVC play, as it won four series in its inaugural campaign in the Valley.

Something About Senior Day: It was a thrilling Senior Day on Saturday for the Beacons, as they rallied late for a pair of one-run victories over Drake. Since 2016, Valpo owns a 9-6 record in Senior Day games - a mark which is all the more impressive when you consider the program's record at home in non-Senior Day games over that stretch is 32-85. Of those nine Senior Day wins, six have been by a singular run, including four walk-off wins.

Beating the Bulldogs: The doubleheader sweep of Drake was especially notable since Valpo entered the weekend 1-19 all-time against the Bulldogs and had failed to win 14 previous matchups as MVC opponents. It was Valpo's first doubleheader sweep with a pair of one-run wins since winning 1-0 and 4-3 at Charleston Feb. 18, 2022. Doubleheader sweeps at home have been even rarer in recent history, as Saturday was Valpo's first 2-0 day at the Valpo Softball Complex since defeating Bradley 2-1 and 4-1 April 28, 2018 — also a Senior Day. In fact, each of the program's last three twinbill sweeps at home have come on Senior Day, going back to the 2017 squad's sweep of Wright State.

Near Miss Against the Irish: Valpo was nearly able to earn its first win against Notre Dame since 1989 last week, stranding 12 runners on base in a 1-0 defeat. The combination of Azalya Lopez and Erin Metz held Notre Dame to just one run on five hits, the best performance by Valpo's defense and pitching against the Fighting Irish since that 2-0 win in 1989 — 38 matchups ago in the series. The one-run loss was the Beacons' closest game against Notre Dame since falling in walkoff fashion to the Irish in 2010, 7-6. Before that, you have to go back to 1996 to find the last one-run game in the series. Valpo out-hit Notre Dame 8-5 as well, the first time it has outhit the Irish since the aforementioned 2010 game.

Tight Ballgames: The trio of one-run ballgames continues a season-long trend of close contests for the Beacons, who have now played 18 one-run games out of their 46 contests this year. Valpo owns an 11-7 record in one-run games. It is the program's highest number of one-run games and one-run wins since the 2013 squad went 13-7 in one-run games.

Looking at the Record Book: As the season winds down, a number of Beacons are starting to impact the program's single-season record book. Azalya Lopez and Erin Metz each have four saves, tied for sixth in a single season in program history - as a team, Valpo's eight saves are just one away from matching the program team single-season record. Metz has also racked up 40 pitching appearances, tied for fifth, while Lopez is tied for ninth in the same category with 36 appearances. At the plate, Mack Gallagher has drawn 35 walks (a mark which ranks second in the MVC) - tied for third, while on the basepaths, Madison Vrastil's 17 stolen bases are tied for 10th.

Dual Threat: Junior Azalya Lopez again excelled last week in the circle and at the plate, continuing her strong first season as a Beacon. Offensively, Lopez hit .308 with four RBIs, reaching base in all four games - including a massive three-run homer to give Valpo the lead for good in the middle game of the series against Drake. In the circle, Lopez tossed 3.2 innings of shutout softball at Notre Dame and then threw her first seven-inning complete game of the year in the opener against Drake, limiting the Bulldogs to two runs on three hits. Lopez ranks among the MVC's top pitchers in saves (t-1st, 4), strikeouts (5th, 95), opponents' batting average (5th, .223), ERA (8th, 2.89) and wins (t-5th, 10).

Continued Success: Freshman Madison Vrastil has ranked among the MVC's best rookies this season. Owner of a 13-game hitting streak and a 22-game on-base streak earlier this year, both the longest by a Valpo player since 2017, Vrastil ranks among the MVC's best in hits (t-4th, 55) and stolen bases (2nd, 17), and is just outside the top-10 in batting average (.353). The freshman is a perfect 17-for-17 in stolen bases, which would set a new program standard for most steals in a season without being caught - she is tied for eighth nationally for most stolen bases by an individual who hasn't been caught stealing.

Putting Together Wins: While Valpo dropped its series finale at Bradley April 6, the Beacons had won five in a row prior to that point - their second five-game winning streak of the season. Prior to this year, the program had put together just one five-game winning streak in the last six seasons.

Conference Streak: Notably, all five of the most recent streak's wins came in MVC play. It was Valpo's longest conference winning streak since stringing together six MVC wins late in the 2018 campaign - also the last time before this last week that the program had won consecutive MVC series. Before the series finale loss at Bradley, Valpo had won four straight road games overall and five straight MVC road contests — both streaks the longest since the 2017 squad won six consecutive Horizon League road games.

Earning the WWWWins: Freshman Erin Metz did something no Valpo pitcher had accomplished since 2008 - earning the win in four straight Valpo victories. Metz picked up the win in both halves of the doubleheader sweep at UIC, and turned around and recorded both wins as the Beacons swept a series-opening twinbill at Bradley. For the week, Metz went 4-0 with a 1.34 ERA in her five appearances, surrendering just three runs in 15.2 innings of work as she earned MVC Pitcher of the Week recognition April 7. The last Valpo pitcher to score the win in four straight victories was Andrea Zappia, who accomplished the feat in April 2008.

Closing the Door: Lopez picked up the save with her three innings of hitless work in the opener against the Braves, one of three saves she picked up on the week, as she also earned saves with three innings of work to close things out in the UIC opener April 1 and the middle game of the Bradley series April 5. For the week, Lopez posted a 2.10 ERA and a .216 batting average against along with 10 strikeouts in 13.1 innings of work and was named MVC Newcomer of the Week - her second weekly award this season.

Coming Home: While the walks dominated the box score in the UIC nightcap April 1, the record the Beacons matched that day was in the runs department. Batting in the nine spot in the lineup, Carson Kuhlmann scored four runs to tie a Valpo single-game record, previously accomplished 10 times - most recently by Alexis Johnson last season. Valpo scored 15 runs as a team in that win over the Flames, its largest output ever against UIC and the program's highest single-game run total since plating 24 against Seton Hall in February 2014.

Walk It Off: Valpo closed its three-game series with Evansville with a bang, scoring four runs over the final two innings to walk off with an 8-7 win over the Purple Aces on March 29. It was the team's first walk-off win of the season and its third in Valley play over the last two years, as the Beacons walked off Bradley and UNI last season. Prior to that Bradley game last season, it had been over four years since the program's last walk-off win. It was also Valpo's first walk-off win with two outs since a two-out, two-run single lifted Valpo over Western Michigan on April 17, 2019. The win was also notable for how the Beacons had to battle back to even get in a position to win the game, as they faced an early 5-0 deficit after surrendering five runs in the first inning. Valpo had not won a game after trailing by five or more runs since a Feb. 19, 2022 win over Lipscomb, when a 5-0 deficit after the top of the third inning turned into a 7-6 victory. It was the first time Valpo surrendered five or more runs in the opening inning and won since perhaps the craziest game in program history — April 14, 2012 against Youngstown State, when YSU scored 11 first-inning runs and Valpo fought all the way back to win 13-12.

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. The Beacons' pitching staff has just three complete games this season, 46 games into the campaign - Valpo is one of just seven teams nationally with fewer than four complete games to its name this year, and the Beacons have the second-best team ERA among that group.

Winning Record Into Conference: The Beacons entered MVC play this season 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.

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.

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.