The Valparaiso University baseball team started the 2026 campaign with a doubleheader at Gardner-Webb on Saturday. Freshman Cal Schembra (Greenwood, Ind. / Center Grove) had five hits on the first day of his collegiate career, but the host Runnin' Bulldogs rallied with two in the bottom of the ninth to take the opener 7-6 before claiming the second game of the twinbill 7-3.
 
How It Happened – Game 1

• Valpo wasted no time in starting the scoring for the 2026 campaign, as two batters into the season, the Beacons were already in front after a run-scoring double by freshman Cole Lockwood (Libertyville, Ill. / Libertyville). Lockwood eventually came around to score on a single by Thomas Cooper (Brentwood, Tenn. / Ravenwood) that made it 2-0.
• Cole's older brother Connor Lockwood (Libertyville, Ill. / Libertyville) was on the mound for the Beacons and put up zeros in four of the first five frames. He was touched for a single tally in the second inning on an RBI triple. Schembra made a sprawling catch in foul territory and doubled off the runner trying to tag and score in the bottom of the second, preventing further damage in that frame.
• The score stood at 2-1 until a two-out, bases-loaded walk by Case Sullivan (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) forced in a Beacon run in the fifth, then Valpo added another in the sixth as Schembra ripped a run-scoring single that made it 3-1.
• The score tightened as Gardner-Webb got a run in the sixth, and Connor Lockwood departed in the seventh with runners at the corners and nobody out and Valpo clinging to a 3-2 lead. Three runs eventually scored in that frame to put the hosts in front 5-4.
• Valpo seesawed back into the lead in the top of the eighth as Bryan Hatch (Des Plaines, Ill. / St. Viator) laid down a squeeze bunt to tie the game, then Schembra doubled down the left field line to put the Beacons ahead 6-5. On the Hatch squeeze, Brayden Pleau (Appleton, Wis. / Kimberly) was originally ruled out at the plate, but the call was overturned upon replay review.
• Valpo took a 6-5 lead to the bottom of the ninth, but the Runnin' Bulldogs prevailed on a two-run, walk-off single by Kelvin Agosto.

Inside the Game – Game 1

• Valpo fell to 1-10 in one-run games combined between last season and this season.
• Schembra had three hits in his collegiate debut to go along with the quality defensive play.
• Both Valpo extra-base hits came from freshmen as Schembra and Cole Lockwood each had a two-bagger.
• The Beacons worked 10 walks in the season opener, which would have tied for the team's second-highest single-game walk total in all of 2025.
• Cooper enjoyed a multi-hit game to start his season.
• Connor Lockwood scattered eight hits over six innings of four-run ball while walking one and striking out three. He received no decision.
• The Beacons left 15 runners on base, while the Runnin' Bulldogs stranded only four in the season opener.

How It Happened – Game 2

• Valpo jumped out to an early lead for the second straight game, scoring twice in the top of the first thanks to run-scoring singles by Schembra and Hatch.
• Starting pitcher Spencer Boynton (Tampa, Fla. / Seffner Christian) held Gardner-Webb off the scoreboard in each of the next two frames, but the Bulldogs picked up one on a sac fly in the third.
• Inserted into the lineup for Game 2, George Betevis (Hanover Park, Ill. / Bartlett) came through with a two-out, run-scoring single in the top of the fourth to add to the Beacon lead. However, Gardner-Webb responded with a pair of two-out runs in the bottom of the inning, evening the game at three.
• The Runnin' Bulldogs scored single tallies in the fifth and sixth innings to take the lead, before scoring two more in the seventh to double the edge to four at 7-3.

Inside the Game – Game 2

• After three hits in the opener, Schembra had a pair of hits in Game 2.
• Cole Lockwood added two hits as well, as freshmen accounted for both multi-hit games.
• Cooper had the team's lone extra-base knock in the night cap.
• The pitching highlight in the second game was Dylan Immel (Brownsville, Wis. / Lomira), who logged a scoreless inning in the second game.

Up Next
The Beacons (0-2) will close out the series with two more games against Gardner-Webb on Saturday as another doubleheader begins at noon CT. There will be no video feed available on Saturday, but there will be live stats.