Valpo (9-8, 0-0 MVC)
March 6 - at Southern Illinois (11-9, 0-0 MVC) - 2 p.m. DH
March 7 - at Southern Illinois - 1 p.m.
March 10 - at Northern Kentucky (7-6, 0-0 Horizon) - noon DH

Next Up in Valpo Softball: The Valpo softball team opens up Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend as it heads to Southern Illinois for a three-game series. The Beacons then return to nonconference action with a Tuesday twinbill at Northern Kentucky.

Previously: Valpo posted a 3-1 record last weekend at the truncated Lindenwood Invite. The Beacons opened with three straight wins over Green Bay, Lindenwood and Western Illinois before falling to the hosts in their finale.

Looking Ahead: The Beacons' long and winding road before playing a home game comes to an end next weekend with a trek to Murray State.

Following Valpo Softball: All three games of the SIU series are slated for broadcast on ESPN+, while every game will have live stats available via ValpoAthletics.com. Most 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 (29-38 [.433] at Valpo, 2nd season; 98-105 [.483] overall, 5th season): Mike Armitage is in his second season as head coach of the Valpo softball program after being hired as head coach on June 6, 2024. In his first year at Valpo, Armitage guided the Beacons to 20 wins - the program's winningest season since 2018 and an 11-win improvement over the previous season. Valpo posted a six-win improvement within MVC play, finishing with its highest total of Valley wins, its most MVC series wins and its best Valley regular season finish since 2018 as well. Prior to Valpo, Armitage spent three seasons as head coach at Minnesota State Moorhead, 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 Records: Southern Illinois - The Beacons are just 1-17 all-time against the Salukis, with that one win coming in their first meeting as MVC foes in 2018 - since then, SIU has claimed 16 straight wins. Last season, the Salukis swept a three-game series at the Valpo Softball Complex by scores of 10-4, 18-3 and 6-3.

Northern Kentucky - Valpo owns a 5-2 record all-time against the Norse, including a 4-1 victory in the most recent meeting last season in Highland Heights. Sydney McDermott and Azalya Lopez each pitched three innings of one-hit ball in the win, with Lopez earning the victory, while Kayden Krug led the way at the plate, going 2-for-2 with two RBIs.

Scouting the Opposition: Southern Illinois - The Salukis start off MVC play with an 11-9 overall record, most recently going 3-2 last weekend at the Lipscomb Piurple and Gold Challenge. Offensively, Sydney Potter leads the Valley with 11 home runs and 28 RBIs, while in the circle, Hailey Lucas (2-4, 2.42 ERA) and Emily Delgado (3-2, 3.07 ERA) have seen the majority of work.

Northern Kentucky - The Norse enter the week at 7-6, with four games on the docket this weekend at Eastern Kentucky prior to Tuesday's doubleheader. Kenzie Gulley leads the NKU offense with a .419 batting average, one of five regulars hitting over .300. In the circle, Makaree Chapman has tossed just shy of half the innings for the Norse and is 2-4 with a 3.90 ERA and 27 strikeouts.

Nonconference Success: Valpo heads into MVC play with a winning record, as the Beacons sit at 9-8 through four weekends of play. This is the second straight season the Beacons have carried a winning record into Valley action, as they were 11-9 going into their MVC opener in 2025. Prior to last year, it had been since 2018 (12-8) that Valpo opened conference play with a winning record.

Walk This Way: A big reason for Valpo's offensive success in the opening month of the season has been its collective discerning eye at the plate. The Beacons have drawn six or more walks in nine of their 17 games this year, highlighted by a 10-walk performance in the opening-weekend win over Oakland - tied for fifth-most in a single game in program history. Valpo currently ranks 16th nationally in walks (94), with five different players having already drawn 10 or more walks, and is also 24th in on-base percentage (.444).

Hitting .400: A pair of Beacons enter MVC play hitting at or above the .400 mark, as Madison Vrastil ranks eighth in the Valley with a .404 batting average and is tied for fifth with 23 hits, while Marissa Jackson is ninth in the Valley with a .400 batting average. For Jackson, it is a 111-point improvement from her .289 average prior to MVC play last season, while Vrastil hit .471 prior to the start of Valley play last season as a freshman.

V Races Into Record Book: One season after cracking Valpo's single-season top-10 for stolen bases by going a perfect 17-for-17, sophomore Madison Vrastil made her mark in the single-game department on opening weekend. Vrastil stole one base in the first inning, one in the second inning and two in the third inning of the Beacons' Saturday win over Green Bay, establishing a new Valpo single-game record with four stolen bases. Last weekend, Vrastil stole three bases in as many attempts, improving to 15-for-15 on the bases this year - tied for seventh nationally in steals and tied for most by a player who hasn't been caught once.

Just Keep Reaching Base: Senior Mack Gallagher extended her season-opening on-base streak to 17 consecutive games as she reached at least once in all four games last weekend. She went 3-for-11 with four walks over the four games, including her fourth multi-walk game of the season in the weekend finale against Lindenwood. Gallagher ranks fifth nationally in walks/game (1.12), while her 19 walks lead the MVC and her .561 on-base percentage ranks second in the Valley.

Rodas Stays Hot: Senior Kim Rodas continued swinging her recent hot bat last weekend, going 7-of-11 at the plate and slashing .636/.692/.909 over Valpo's four games at Lindenwood. Rodas reached base at least twice in all four games and had at least one hit in all four contests, highlighted by a 3-for-3 performance in the opener against Green Bay - her second career three-hit game.  After going 1-for-10 at the plate over the first two weekends of play, she is 13-for-26 with five walks over the last two weekends. Defensively, Rodas handled 13 chances (5 putouts, 8 assists) at shortstop without an error last weekend, continuing her perfect season in the field at short.

Cadan Connects: Junior Cadan Brinkman enjoyed a strong weekend at the plate at Lindenwood last weekend, going 5-for-9 and slashing .556/.600/1.222 in her three games played. The junior stood out in the Friday win over the host Lions, coming up a triple short of the cycle as she went 3-for-4 with a double and her second home run this season. She also reached base twice the next day in the win over Western Illinois, tallying a triple, a walk and a run scored. Brinkman's .667 slugging percentage this season ranks ninth in the Valley.

The Win Goes to Syd: Sydney McDermott had a hand in all three of Valpo's victories last weekend, finishing the weekend 2-0 with a save, a 1.50 ERA, a .176 OBA and 13 strikeouts in 14 innings of work. She pitched a shutout seventh inning to secure the save in the tournament opener against Green Bay, and came back later that night with a complete-game four-hitter, striking out nine while only surrendering an unearned run in a win over Lindenwood. The next day, McDermott tossed the first six innings of Valpo's win over Western Illinois, again giving up just four hits. With seven wins this year, McDermott is tied for 23rd nationally and ranks third in the Valley, while her 45 strikeouts are also good for third among MVC pitchers.

Caitlyn in Control: Sophomore Caitlyn Quickle handed out just one free pass in 6.2 innings pitched over two starts last weekend while striking out eight batters in that same time frame. She has now tossed 25.1 innings this season and has walked only two batters, ranking her sixth nationally in fewest walks per seven innings. Her 0.99 WHIP is good for third in the Valley as well.

A Perfect Start: Valpo swept its four games on opening weekend at the DePaul Dome Tournament, starting 4-0 for the fifth time in program history and just the second time against all D-I opponents. The 2017 squad started 5-0 for the best start by a Valpo team, while the 1986, 2000 and 2002 teams all faced at least two non D-I opponents en route to a 4-0 start.

Plating Runs: The Beacons scored 33 runs over their four wins on opening weekend, plating at least six runs in each game. Valpo scored 11 times in the season-opening win over Detroit Mercy and 10 runs in the Saturday win versus Green Bay, the program's first time scoring double-digit runs in consecutive games since 2020, when it plated 11 against Bethune-Cookman Feb. 29 and turned around to score 12 versus Stetson March 1.

Walk It Off: After three big wins to start the season, Valpo faced adversity for the first time in its final game of opening weekend against Oakland, but successfully navigated an early four-run deficit, scoring three in the fourth and two in the fifth to take the lead. The Golden Grizzlies tied the game with a run in the top of the seventh before Mack Gallagher's RBI single scored Sophia Leitzen to walk off with a 6-5 victory. The walk-off was the Beacons' first since winning in their final at-bat against Evansville March 29, 2025. It was Valpo's first walk-off victory in nonconference play since a game-ending home run against Cleveland State March 8, 2020.

Who's Back: Valpo returns 15 letterwinners from last year's squad for the 2026 campaign, a group which accounted for 85.3% of the team's at-bats and 100% of the innings pitched last season. The Beacons also return two pitchers - Mia Carroll-Greeves and Kayla Purdy - who sat out the entirety of their first season on campus in 2025.

Who's New: Valpo welcomes six newcomers to the program this season. Transfers Grace Hollopeter and Cadan Brinkman join from Purdue Fort Wayne and Campbell, respectively, while Addie Young, Jenna Flessner, Lillian Martinez and Ava Goodman come in as true freshmen.

A Large Roster: Do the math from the above two notes, and you find that this year's Valpo softball roster is comprised of 23 players. While that is one shy of last year's team, which featured a program-record 24 players, it is still the second-largest roster in program history.

Hitting the Road: This weekend's games continue a long and winding road for the Beacons before they finally get the chance to play at the Valpo Softball Complex. Valpo played in tournaments hosted by DePaul, UT Martin, UNLV and Lindenwood to open the season, and following these road games against SIU and NKU, the Beacons' second conference series is on the road as well at Murray State. In all, Valpo has 25 games on its slate before the scheduled home opener against DePaul March 17.

Looking Back at 2025: Valpo won 20 games in 2025, more wins than the previous two seasons combined and its highest win total since the 2018 season. The Beacons won nine MVC games, also their highest total since 2018. Offensively, Valpo scored the most runs in a season since 2017, while on the mound, the pitching staff's ERA was the program's lowest since 2018.

Lopez Earns Preseason Honor: Senior Azalya Lopez was named to the preseason All-MVC First Team for her work in the circle and at the plate. Lopez - a Second Team All-MVC choice last season in her first year at Valpo - posted 10 wins, four saves, a 2.89 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 138 innings of work in 2025 while allowing opponents to hit just .218 off of her — the tenth-best mark in a single season in program history. She tied for the MVC lead in saves, ranked fifth in strikeouts and opponents' batting average, and eighth in ERA and wins. At the plate, the two-time MVC Newcomer of the Week hit .254 with 14 runs scored and 25 RBIs. Lopez led the team with 10 doubles and ranked second in both RBIs and walks (23). She found her groove in the batter's box during conference play, hitting a team-best .307 in MVC play with an .835 OPS.