Box Score The Valparaiso University baseball team received solid pitching from the six hurlers who took the mound and the Beacons tied the game with two runs in the top of the seventh, but host Purdue responded with a run in the last of the seventh which stood as the difference in a 3-2 Boilermaker victory on Tuesday at Alexander Field in West Lafayette, Ind.
 
How It Happened

• Starting pitcher Spencer Boynton (Tampa, Fla. / Seffner Christian) worked out of trouble in each of the first two innings. The Boilermakers had two in scoring position with only one away in the first, but Boynton notched his second and third strikeouts of the inning to keep it scoreless.
• In the second, Purdue mounted another threat that featured men at the corners with nobody out, but a strikeout on a pitch-clock violation and a 6-4-3 double play helped Boynton wiggle out of the jam.
• Valpo had its first scoring chance in the third when Brayden Pleau (Appleton, Wis. / Kimberly) ripped a leadoff double, but he was eventually stranded at third.
• Purdue broke through in the third, scoring twice (one earned) including an RBI double by Sam Flores that plated the first run.
• The Beacons loaded the bases with two hits and a walk in the fourth, but stranded the maximum.
• Purdue attempted a double steal with runners at the corners and two outs in the fifth, and on the return throw to the plate, the runner went in standing up and there was a collision, but Valpo catcher Eli Riley (Zanesville, Ind. / Norwell) held on to the ball for the third out of the inning, keeping the deficit at two.
• Lefty Christian Hack (Oak Forest, Ill. / Tinley Park) struck out a pair as part of a scoreless sixth that saw Purdue waste a one-out double.
• Valpo tied the game by scoring twice in the top of the seventh. A run-scoring single by Javin Gauthier (De Pere, Wis. / De Pere) pushed across the first run, then Gauthier came around to score as freshman Cal Schembra (Greenwood, Ind. / Center Grove) poked a double down the right-field line. Both of the runs came after two were out in the inning.
• The first two batters of the bottom of the seventh were retired, but the next two were each hit by a pitch, and the first of those eventually scored on a single to put the Boilermakers back in front 3-2.
• Baffa worked a scoreless eighth to keep Valpo within striking distance, but the Beacons couldn't muster up any offense in the top of the ninth.  

Inside the Game

• Pleau went 4-for-4, surpassing his previous season high of three hits on Feb. 28 at Alabama State. He accounted for four of the team's seven hits.
• The last nine matchups between the Beacons and Boilermakers dating back to 2012 have all been decided by four runs or fewer. The last 10 games between the two teams dating back to 2010 have all been decided by five runs or fewer.
• Valpo's last three games have all been decided by two runs or fewer. The Beacons fell to 1-5 in one-run games this season and 2-14 in one-run games in 2025 and 2026 combined.
• Valpo pitching displayed good control in the midweek contest, permitting just two walks. None of the first five Beacons who toed the rubber on Tuesday issued a base on balls.
• Purdue held a 10-7 edge in the hit column. Purdue stranded 11, while Valpo left 10 on base.

Up Next
The Beacons (6-14) will finally open the home portion of the season by hosting a three-game series against Indiana State this weekend. The series opener is currently scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday, but please check back to ValpoAthletics.com for potential weather-related schedule changes.