The Valparaiso University baseball team dropped all three games to Jacksonville State, a team that won 37 games last season and reached the Conference USA title game, in a three-game series in Jacksonville, Ala. this weekend. The Beacons lost a 3-2 cliffhanger on Friday before falling 17-3 and 13-2 as the Gamecocks invoked the 10-run rule in both ends of Saturday's doubleheader.
 
How It Happened – Friday's Game

• Valpo struck first in Friday's series opener, as junior Brayden Pleau (Appleton, Wis. / Kimberly) lifted a sacrifice fly to plate a run.
• Opener Adam Guazzo (Huntley, Ill. / Huntley) went three shutout innings, allowing just two hits while walking none and striking out three. He left with Valpo in front 1-0.
• Bulk man Spencer Boynton (Tampa, Fla. / Seffner Christian) entered the game in the fourth and worked a 1-2-3 inning, then he worked around a walk and a hit batter to hurl a scoreless fifth. The Beacons carried the 1-0 edge to the bottom of the sixth inning, when an RBI double and a wild pitch scored runs to put Jax State in front 2-1.
• Valpo tied the game in the seventh as Thomas Cooper (Brentwood, Tenn. / Ravenwood) led off the inning with a double, then scampered home as Cole Lockwood (Libertyville, Ill. / Libertyville) lashed out a single through the right side.
• A stolen base followed by a two-out single helped the Gamecocks regain the lead in the bottom of the seventh. All six Beacon batters were retired over the final two innings.

How It Happened – Saturday's Game 1  

• Valpo struck right away as Gauthier ripped a run-scoring triple in the opening frame.  Michael Kuska (Pontiac, Ill. / Pontiac Township) slid in safely on a close play at the plate.
• Jax State responded with three runs on three hits in the bottom of the first, using a two-run single followed by a sac fly to go up 3-1 through one.
• Another sac fly allowed the Gamecocks to tack on a second-inning run, then a three-run homer by Grayson Ashe made it 7-1 in the third.
• A solo homer by Brady Thomas extended the lead to 8-1 in the fourth, then an error allowed Jacksonville State to get one more and make it 9-1.
• The Gamecocks poured on three more in the fifth to increase the edge to 12-1, but then Austin Amburgey (Miamisburg, Ohio / Miamisburg) nailed a two-run homer in the top of the sixth to make it 12-3.
• Jax State added five more in the bottom of the sixth before invoking the 10-run rule.

How It Happened – Saturday's Game 2

• After a caught stealing from catcher Eli Riley (Zanesville, Ind. / Norwell) ended the bottom of the first, Valpo took the lead in unorthodox fashion in the top of the second. Cal Schembra (Greenwood, Ind. / Center Grove) reached on catcher's interference, then advanced from first to third on a throwing error by the pitcher, then came into score on a throwing error by the right fielder on the same play. Schembra circled the bases with Jacksonville State committing three errors without Valpo putting the ball in play in that sequence.
• Jacksonville State hit a two-run, go-ahead home run in the bottom of the third to establish a 2-1 lead.  
• The fourth inning saw Valpo get even as Lockwood drove in a run with a two-out single to the pitcher.
• In the bottom of the fifth, Jacksonville State scored three times including a two-out, two-run single to take a 5-3 advantage.  
• The Gamecocks poured on eight runs in the seventh inning including a game-ending three-run homer by Orlando Pena that invoked the run rule.  

Inside the Games

• Gauthier had two hits in the series opener on Friday. His triple on Saturday was the first of his collegiate career and marked Valpo's seventh triple of the season.
• Amburgey's home run in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader was the second of his career and first since March 8, 2025 at Ohio State. Both of his career home runs have come in the second game of the fourth weekend of the season.
• Lockwood had two hits in Saturday's series finale to lead the team, including the squad's lone extra-base knock of the contest. Valpo struck out 13 times and walked only once in that game.

Up Next
The Beacons (5-8) will play a three-game series at SIUE with Game 1 beginning at 4 p.m. on Friday.