The first five pitchers who took the mound for the Valparaiso University baseball team held Notre Dame to one run through five innings, but host Notre Dame took the lead with three in the sixth and added two in the seventh to beat the Beacons 6-1 on Tuesday at Frank Eck Stadium in South Bend. Redshirt sophomore Case Sullivan (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) enjoyed a three-hit game including a solo home run to account for the Valpo tally.  
 
How It Happened

• The Beacons used a hit batter, infield single and walk to pack the sacks in the top of the first, but Notre Dame got out of it with a strikeout.
• Notre Dame's Mark Quatrani homered to center field with one away in the bottom of the first to start the scoring, putting the hosts ahead by a run.
• Righty Justin Bultemeier (Decatur, Ind. / Adams Central) came on to work the second and pitched a shutout frame, getting out of it with a strikeout as the Fighting Irish stranded a pair.
• Johnny Wholestaff continued to get it done on the mound for the Beacons as Joey Kafka (Mundelein, Ill. / Mundelein) worked a scoreless third, then Hunter Frost (Farmington, Minn. / Farmington) and Christian Hack (Oak Forest, Ill. / Tinley Park) combined to get out of trouble in the fourth with no runs across, keeping the deficit at one.
• A stellar defensive play by Cal Schembra (Greenwood, Ind. / Center Grove) in center field played a key role in the scoreless bottom of the fourth. He recovered from an initial stumble to make a sprawling catch in center, then made a perfect one-hop throw that was scooped by Gavin Bennett (Libertyville, Ill. / Libertyville) at first base to complete the double play. The first base umpire wasn't looking, so the ruling on the field by the second base umpire was safe, but a challenge and quick review overturned the call to an out at first to complete the double play.
• Valpo got even in the top of the fifth as Sullivan ripped a 390-foot dinger to center.
• Hack induced an inning-ending double play to squash a Notre Dame threat in the bottom of the fifth, keeping the score tied at one.  
• Notre Dame took the lead in the bottom of the sixth, scoring three times. A bases-loaded walk gave the Fighting Irish the lead, then a two-run single to right made it 4-1.
• Notre Dame tacked on two in the seventh on a string of four straight hits including three consecutive doubles to make it 6-1, which stood as the final.

Inside the Game

• Sullivan homered for the second straight game after also doing so on Sunday vs. Bradley.
• Sullivan upped his season home run total to four, all in the last nine games, and his career total to 11.
• Sullivan matched a season-high with three hits, his third three-hit game of the year.
• Valpo made big pitches to get out of jams early, but Notre Dame started to take advantage of its base runners late in the game. The Fighting Irish drew 10 walks, accrued 12 hits and stranded 12 on base.
• The Beacons also had some opportunities as Valpo left 11 on base.
• Junior Louie Kegerreis (Murrysville, Pa. / Franklin Regional) collected two hits, his third multi-hit game in his last four contests.
• Redshirt senior Eli Riley (Zanesville, Ind. / Norwell) doubled and was hit by a pitch, stretching his on-base streak to 17, the longest by a Valpo player this season. For what it's worth, three Beacons had on-base streaks of 17 games or longer last season – Aidan Thaxton (19), Liam Patton (18) and Kevin Denty (17).

Up Next
The Beacons (9-23) will start a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series at UIC on Friday at 6 p.m. at Curtis Granderson Stadium in Chicago. The game will air on ESPN+ with a link to live video and stats available on ValpoAthletics.com.