Valpo (16-23, 4-12 MVC)
April 14 - UIC (17-24-1, 6-14 MVC) - 12:30 p.m. DH
April 15 - Western Michigan (21-19, 10-8 MAC) - 4 p.m.
April 17 - at Drake (9-29, 3-14 MVC) - 2:30 p.m. DH
April 18 - at Drake - 2 p.m.

Next Up in Valpo Softball: It's a busy week of action upcoming for the Valpo softball team this week, with six games scheduled over a five-day span. Action starts Tuesday afternoon with a home doubleheader against UIC, followed by a quick step outside conference play Wednesday afternoon versus Western Michigan. The Beacons then hit the road for a key three-game MVC series at Drake Friday and Saturday.

Previously: Valpo took down Notre Dame for the first time since 1989 last Wednesday, snapping a 37-game losing streak to the Fighting Irish with a 3-2 road win. The Beacons were unable to carry the momentum into their weekend series, however, as they were swept by MVC-leading Belmont.

Looking Ahead: Valpo plays another power conference team in mid-week action next week, making the trip to take on Indiana, before returning home for its final home series of the year against Bradley.

Following Valpo Softball: All six games this week are slated for broadcast on ESPN+ and will all 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 (36-53 [.404] at Valpo, 2nd season; 105-120 [.467] 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: UIC - The most common opponent in program history, Valpo is just 24-71 all-time against the Flames in a series dating back to 1984. In nine games since UIC joined the Valley prior to the 2023 season, the Beacons are 4-5 against the Flames. Last year, Valpo earned just its second doubleheader sweep ever over UIC, winning 3-2 and 15-3 in Chicago - the 15 runs its largest-ever output against the Flames - but UIC came back to win 3-0 in the final game of the series in Valpo.

Western Michigan - Valpo is 8-20 in program history against the Broncos. The two programs last matched up in 2022, splitting a pair of games - Valpo won early in the season at the DePaul Dome Tournament, 9-5, while WMU picked up a 3-0 victory later in the year in Kalamazoo.

Drake - Valpo is just 3-20 in program history against the Bulldogs, including a 2-15 mark since joining the MVC prior to the 2018 season. Both those wins came last season, however, as the Beacons swept a doubleheader over the Bulldogs by scores of 3-2 and 6-5 to snap a 15-game losing streak in the series before Drake came back with a 6-1 win in the series finale.

Scouting the Opposition: UIC - The Flames come into Tuesday's twinbill with a 17-24-1 overall record and are 6-14 in MVC play, most recently getting swept in a three-game series at UNI in which they scored 28 runs but gave up 43 runs. Four regulars are hitting better than .350, with Sam Tourtillott scoring a team-best 36 runs and Larissa Ortiz owning a team-high 31 RBIs. In the circle, Jasmine Whorley has pitched over half the innings and is 13-11 with a 5.52 ERA.

Western Michigan - The Broncos come to Valpo with a 21-19 overall record and are 10-8 in MAC action, most recently sweeping a three-game series at Ball State. Caitlin Tighe has scored a team-best 26 runs, while Bella Duncan has a team-high 38 RBIs. In the circle, Hannah Potts is 10-10 with a 4.90 ERA and 100 strikeouts in 100 innings of work, while Ava Geyer is 7-6 with a 3.58 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 97.2 innings.

Drake - The Bulldogs sit at 9-29 overall and 3-14 in MVC play, with a Monday doubleheader at UNI ahead of this weekend's series. At the plate, Frankie Rita is hitting a team-best .324 and has scored a team-high 22 runs, with Tatum Aragon owning a team-high 25 RBIs. It has been a committee's work in the circle, with Peyton Driscoll seeing the most work - she is 1-12 with a 6.84 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 74.2 innings.

Taking Down the Irish: Valpo earned its first win over Notre Dame since 1989 last Wednesday in dramatic fashion, as Sophia Leitzen threw out the potential tying run at the plate from right field to secure the 3-2 win. The top four hitters in the Beacons' lineup all reached base multiple times, including multi-hit games for Madison Vrastil, Kayden Krug and Mack Gallagher, as Valpo snapped a 37-game winning streak in the series for the Fighting Irish. It was the program's first win over a Power Four opponent since a 4-0 win at North Carolina State March 5, 2019.

Snapping Streaks: The win over the Irish was the second consecutive outing that Valpo snapped a long winning streak in the series by its opponent, as the Beacons' win at Illinois State April 3 snapped a 20-game ISU winning streak in that series. The 37-game streak snapped by the win over Notre Dame was the third-longest opponent's winning streak snapped in program history - Valpo beat UIC in 2005 to snap a 42-game winning streak by the Flames, while the 2016 team beat DePaul to snap a 42-game winning streak for the Blue Demons.

All Hands on Deck: Normally if a team is throwing four different pitchers over the course of a seven-inning game, the opposition is probably putting up a number of runs. But that wasn't the case for the Beacons in their win over Notre Dame, as four pitchers combined to give up just two runs. Sydney McDermott started and tossed the first 1.2 innings before giving way to Caitlyn Quickle, who threw 2.2 shutout innings and eventually picked up the win. Kayla Purdy was called upon to register the final two outs of the fifth inning before Azalya Lopez took the ball and earned a two-inning save.

Figuring Out Maya: While the Beacons were limited to one hit by Belmont All-American pitcher Maya Johnson in Friday's series opener (her eighth one-hitter or better this year), it was what they did off of her the next day that was notable. Valpo racked up seven hits off of Johnson, the second-most she has given up in a game this year, trailing only the eight hits Georgia tallied. The Beacons' last three batters of the game all picked up base hits - the first time this season that Johnson has surrendered base hits to three consecutive batters. Last season, Johnson gave up base hits to three straight batters just four times — notably, Valpo was one of the teams to accomplish that feat last year, doing so in its April 17 game in Nashville. Valpo struck out just seven times in Saturday's game against Johnson, who entered the weekend the nation's leader in strikeouts per seven innings at 13.9 — the seven strikeouts are the fewest Johnson has recorded in a game this season.

Front-Loaded Slate: Last weekend's series against Belmont capped an extremely front-loaded conference schedule for the Beacons. Of Valpo's first six MVC series, five of them have been against the five teams which sit above .500 in conference play, while the sixth was against the team in seventh place. Valpo's first six Valley opponents currently have a combined MVC record of 69-35 (.663), while its final four currently have a combined MVC record of 23-49 (.319).

Talk About Small Ball: While the Beacons haven't been reliant on power hitting as a whole this year (58 extra-base hits versus 84 for their opponents), they took it to a whole new level in the nightcap win at Illinois State. Valpo tallied 11 hits, as well as three walks, in the win over the Redbirds - all 11 being singles. Ironically, it was the first time Valpo had no extra-base hits in a game with at least 11 base knocks since its last visit to Illinois State in 2024, while the last time it did so in a win came in the opening game of the 2016 Horizon League Tournament against Youngstown State. The Beacons also matched their season high in that win with four sacrifice bunts, including back-to-back successful squeezes.

No Ks Necessary: While the offense was getting the job done with small ball in the nightcap win over Illinois State, Caitlyn Quickle and Azalya Lopez were epitomizing the term "pitch to contact". The duo combined to get all 18 outs of the weather-shortened game without registering a single strikeout - in fact, Redbird batters had just four swing and misses over the six innings. 12 of the outs came via fly balls, two of which turned into double plays, while the other four came via grounder. It was the first time Valpo's pitching staff had a game where it didn't register a strikeout since its visit to Notre Dame last season, and the first time it did so in a win since a May 5, 2006 victory over UMKC. 

BBs vs. Ks: As we've moved past the halfway mark of the season, it's time to start looking at season-long trends, and one thing which jumps out immediately is the offense's walk/strikeout ratio. This year's team is nearly even in the two departments, entering this week with 145 walks and 149 strikeouts. Three regulars in the starting lineup have struck out eight or fewer times, while six players have walked at least ten times. No team in program history has ever finished a season with more walks than strikeouts - the 2012 team owns the best single-season ratio (191 BB/251 K; .761), while last year's team was close behind (170 BB/224 K; .759).

Nice Round Numbers: Only four players in program history have gotten on base at a .500 clip and only five have slugged at a .600 clip. But Mack Gallagher is threatening both marks this season. The senior owns a .493 on-base percentage - sixth in the Valley - and a .602 slugging percentage.

Peeking at the Record Book: While there's still 14 scheduled games left in the regular season, the program's single-season record book is already being impacted. Vrastil has swiped 20 bases this year, good for third in the MVC and already tied for eighth in a single season in program history - with 37 career steals, she ranks seventh in program history on that chart as well. Gallagher has drawn 30 walks this year, second-most in the MVC and already tied for sixth-most in a season in program history - with 67 career walks, she is also seventh in program history in that category. As a team, Valpo's on-base percentage of .373 is on pace to challenge the single-season record in that category, currently held by the 2015 team at .381.

Single-Game Records: Vrastil has impacted Valpo's single-game record book on a pair of occasions this season. The sophomore stole four bases on the season's opening day against Green Bay, establishing a new program single-game record, as the previous mark of three had been accomplished 14 times. More recently, Vrastil twice in a three-day span (March 13 nightcap at Murray State; March 15 opener at IU Indy) scored four runs in a single game, the 12th and 13th times in program history a player scored four runs in a game. Vrastil joins former Valpo greats Sara Strickland and Sam Stewart as the only players in program history to twice score four runs in a game.

Getting On Base: Senior Mack Gallagher has been a consistent presence on the basepaths for Valpo this season. She opened the season with a 27-game on-base streak and has reached safely at least once in 35 of 39 games this year. Gallagher tallied a pair of base hits in the win at Notre Dame and has now reached base multiple times in a game on 18 occasions this year - twice in nine games, three times in five games and four times in four games. She enters this week with eight home runs, ninth-most in the MVC and just one shy of Valpo's single-season top-10 chart, while her team-best 36 RBIs are good for sixth in the Valley.

Walk This Way: Valpo's collective discerning eye at the plate has led to plenty of free bases. The Beacons have drawn five or more walks 10 times this season, highlighted by a 10-walk performance in the opening-weekend win over Oakland - tied for fifth-most in a single game in program history. With 145 walks on the season, Valpo is in line to potentially challenge the program's single-season record of 191, set back in 2012.

Helping Hands From the Outfield: Sophia Leitzen's outfield assist to close the Notre Dame win was just the latest notable exploit from the Beacon outfielders. Go back to Valpo's series finale versus UNI on March 22, which saw center fielder Marissa Jackson double up a baserunner in the fifth inning, and then Jackson and left fielder Kayden Krug were part of back-to-back putouts on the basepaths in the seventh inning. It was the first time Valpo tallied three outfield assists in a single game since its Horizon League Tournament opener against Butler on May 10, 2012, while Jackson became the first Valpo outfielder with multiple assists in the same game since Taylor Lawson had a pair at Northern Illinois on April 14, 2015.

Power-ing Up the Schedule: Since head coach Mike Armitage's arrival prior to last season, Valpo has had a marked increase in challenging higher-level opposition in midweek competition. This year's slate features five scheduled midweek games against Power Four and Big East competition (although the DePaul game was rained out), while last year's schedule had three such games. In the four years prior to Armitage taking over the program, Valpo had a combined two midweek games against such competition.

Nonconference Success: Valpo hit MVC play with a winning record, as the Beacons sat 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.

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.