The Valparaiso University baseball team found itself on the right side of a one-run game in the opener of Saturday's doubleheader, using a two-out, two-run triple by Case Sullivan (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) in the top of the seventh of a scheduled seven-inning game to beat Gardner-Webb in a high-scoring affair, 11-10. The Runnin' Bulldogs battled back to take the nightcap of the scheduled twinbill, invoking the 10-run rule to win 12-1 and take three out of four in the season-opening series in Boiling Springs, N.C.
 
How It Happened – Game 1

• Valpo started the scoring with a big top of the second inning, as four of the first five batters reached base including a run-scoring single by Gavin Bennett (Libertyville, Ill. / Libertyville) before an RBI double by Michael Kuska (Pontiac, Ill. / Pontiac Township) and two-run single by Sullivan. By the time Gardner-Webb got out of the inning on an unassisted double play, Valpo had pushed four runs across and owned a 4-0 lead.
• The Runnin' Bulldogs responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, using three singles, a double and three stolen bases to tie the game before a fourth attempt at a swiped bag was cut down to end the frame.
• The Valpo offense produced two runs in the third as Cal Schembra (Greenwood, Ind. / Center Grove) and Thomas Cooper (Brentwood, Tenn. / Ravenwood) both singled and scored.
• After starting pitcher Dalton Swinehart (Elkhart, Ind. / Concord) regrouped to work a scoreless bottom of the third, the Beacons enjoyed their third straight crooked number in the fourth, adding on three more thanks to a Brayden Pleau (Appleton, Wis. / Kimberly) double and a two-run homer by Schembra that made it 9-4.
• A two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the fourth helped Gardner-Webb claw back to within three. More two-out damage hurt the Beacons in the fifth, as the Bulldogs turned a two-out, nobody-on situation into three runs after a parade of four straight hits. That tied the game at nine.
• The seven-inning game remained deadlocked at nine until the top of the seventh, when Sullivan came through with a two-out, two-run triple that put the Beacons up 11-9.
• Gardner-Webb threatened in the bottom of the seventh with runners at the corners and nobody out, but Justin Bultemeier (Decatur, Ind. / Adams Central) induced a double play and then a ground out to seal the victory. He yielded just one run over 2 1/3 innings while earning the win in relief.

Inside the Game – Game 1

• Valpo produced 12 hits, including five Beacons who all enjoyed multi-hit efforts.
• Schembra's home run was the first of his collegiate career as he had his third straight multi-hit game to start his collegiate tenure.
• Sullivan notched his first collegiate triple and racked up four RBIs, his second career game with at least four driven in and his second in a five-game span dating back to last season as he had a career-high six in the penultimate game of 2025.
• Valpo improved to 1-1 in one-run games on the season after coming out on the wrong end of a game decided by the slimmest of margins on Friday.

How It Happened – Game 2

• Back-to-back two-out doubles helped Gardner-Webb plate four runs in the bottom of the first, all unearned as an error extended the inning.
• Gardner-Webb had six extra-base hits in the first two innings alone, adding two more doubles and two home runs in the second to open up an early 8-0 lead.
• The Beacons got on the board in the third with a single tally, but the Bulldogs poured on two more in the fourth and one each in the fifth and sixth before invoking the 10-run rule.

Inside the Game – Game 2

• The team's six hits came from six different Beacons.
• Doubles by Javin Gauthier (De Pere, Wis. / De Pere) and Louie Kegerreis (Murrysville, Pa. / Franklin Regional) accounted for the team's two extra-base knocks.
• Valpo did not draw any walks in the game.

Up Next
The Beacons (1-3) will play three games in South Carolina against three different opponents next weekend, starting on Friday, Feb. 20 at 4:30 p.m. CT vs. Wofford.