Valpo (17-27, 5-16 MVC)
April 22 - at Indiana (34-12, 12-6 B1G) - 4 p.m. CT
April 24 - Bradley (13-31, 6-14 MVC) - noon DH
April 25 - Bradley - 2 p.m.

Next Up in Valpo Softball: The Valpo softball team begins the penultimate week of the regular season with a Wednesday afternoon game at Indiana. The Beacons then return home for their final home series of the weekend, playing a three-game series against Bradley over Friday and Saturday afternoons. Saturday will serve as the program's Senior Day, celebrating the seven members of the program's senior class.

Previously: Valpo went 1-4 last week in MVC action - the Beacons dropped a doubleheader on Tuesday to UIC before making the trip to Drake, where they captured the opener before falling in the final two games.

Looking Ahead: The regular season wraps up next week with a mid-week game at Illinois before one final weekend series at Evansville.

Following Valpo Softball: Wednesday's game at Indiana will be broadcast on BTN+, while all three games of the Bradley series are slated for broadcast on ESPN+. All will have live stats available via ValpoAthletics.com as well. 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 (37-57 [.394] at Valpo, 2nd season; 106-124 [.461] 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: Indiana - Valpo is looking for its first win in program history over the Hoosiers, entering Wednesday's game 0-13 all-time against IU. The two programs last met two seasons ago in a pair of games as part of the Hoosier Classic, with the Beacons falling 8-6 and 10-0 in those contests.

Bradley - Valpo owns an 11-17 record against the Braves, including a 10-13 mark since joining the MVC. Last season, the Beacons claimed a 2-1 triumph in the season series, winning the first two games, 1-0 and 8-4, before dropping the finale, 4-3. The Braves got their revenge in the MVC Tournament, however, earning a 3-2 win in eight innings.

Scouting the Opposition: Indiana - The Hoosiers enter Wednesday's game with a 34-12 overall record and are 12-6 within Big Ten play, most recently taking two of three games from Iowa. As a team, the Hoosiers hit .348, with only one regular hitting below the .300 mark - Aly VanBrandt is the team's top hitter, OPSing 1.308 with 55 runs scored and 51 RBIs. In the circle, six different pitchers have seen action, with four of them tossing at least 49 innings - Ella Troutt has thrown a team-high 90.1 innings and is 10-6 with a 2.48 ERA and 49 strikeouts.

Bradley - The Braves enter the week with a 13-31 overall record, including a 6-14 mark in MVC play - they took one of three last weekend in a home series against Evansville and take on Western Illinois in mid-week action before arriving in Valpo. Morgan Schlosser is hitting a team-best .318, while Ashley Breeding leads BU with 40 runs scored and 34 RBIs. In the circle, Abby Rusher has been a workhorse, tossing over half the team's innings - she is 7-18 with a 5.74 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 146.1 innings of work.

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.

Celebrating the Seniors: Saturday will mark Senior Day for the softball program, as a group of seven seniors are celebrated for their contributions to the Beacons. It is a group which has taken many different paths to get here - Kaia Garnica, Kim Rodas and Lyna Vasquez have spent four years at Valpo; Sydney McDermott has spent three years here enrolled in the five-year accelerated PA program; Mack Gallagher and Azalya Lopez have spent two years here apiece after transferring from MSU Moorhead; and Grace Hollopeter has spent her final year of collegiate softball here after transferring from Purdue Fort Wayne.

Seniors on the All-Time Charts: A number of the Beacon seniors hold spots on the program's career top-10 charts. Mack Gallagher's 68 walks are seventh-most in program history, while her .427 on-base percentage at Valpo would rank sixth all-time. Azalya Lopez's nine career saves are third-most in program history, while her .261 batting average against in the circle would rank tenth. Kim Rodas has drawn 64 career walks in her four years, tied for eighth-in program history, and she is just 10 assists away from cracking the top-10 in that category as well. Likewise, Sydney McDermott is just 12 strikeouts away from the top-10 in program history in the category.

Senior Day Success: If recent history is any indication, you should expect a successful Saturday at the ballpark as the Beacons celebrate Senior Day. Since 2016, Valpo holds a 9-5 record in Senior Day games. Six of those wins have come by a single run, and four of those were of the walk-off variety. Last season, Valpo swept a Senior Day doubleheader against Drake with a pair of one-run wins after having entered the day with just one win over the Bulldogs in program history (1-19).

So You're Telling Me There's a Chance: For the first time since Valpo's first year in the MVC (2018), the Valley will not take every team to this season's MVC Tournament, as just six teams will make the postseason event (a move mirroring other Valley sports: men's and women's soccer, volleyball and baseball all are six-team tournaments now as well). With that being the case, Valpo's current chances of making the tournament are nearly zero, but there is still a mathematical path to qualify: the Beacons would need to sweep their last two MVC series versus Bradley and Evansville, Evansville would have to be swept in its three-game series versus UIC, UIC would have to be swept in its three-game series against Southern Illinois and Indiana State would have to win no more than two of its final eight games against Drake, Belmont and UNI - that would leave Valpo and Evansville tied at 11-16, with Valpo holding the tiebreaker, UIC at 11-17 and Indiana State at no better than 10-17.

WLL: For the fourth time this season out of their five three-game MVC series, the Beacons captured the opening game of their series at Drake last weekend before dropping the final two games. That exact order of results - winning the opener, losing the final two games - had happened for Valpo just twice in 55 three-game series since joining the Valley prior to the 2018 season - 2018 against UNI and 2024 against Belmont.

Gallagher Goes Deep: Senior Mack Gallagher not only put Valpo in front for good with her three-run homer in the fifth inning of the series opener at Drake Saturday, she also leapt onto a pair of the program's single-season top-10 charts. She is now tied for eighth in a season in program history with nine home runs and is tied for ninth with 39 RBIs, while she also is fifth in walks (32) and eighth in on-base percentage (.467). Gallagher currently ranks second in the MVC in walks, sixth in RBIs, eighth in home runs and tenth in on-base percentage.

Getting On Base: 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 37 of 42 games this year. Gallagher has reached base multiple times in a game on 19 occasions this year - twice in nine games, three times in six games and four times in four games.

V Stands For Very Good: Sophomore Madison Vrastil continued her standout second season at the plate last weekend against Drake, tallying at least one hit in all three games as she went 6-for-11. The sophomore had three hits in the opener and two hits in the middle game, giving her 20 multi-hit games this year. She already ranks seventh in a single season in program history with 21 stolen bases, good for second in the MVC, and her .381 batting average would currently rank her eighth in program history. With two weeks to play, she is also poised to crack top-10 single-season charts in doubles (13, 1 shy), hits (56, 3 shy) and runs scored (34, 4 shy).

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.

For The Save: Senior Azalya Lopez took the ball for the final four outs of the win at Drake, giving up one hit and striking out two as she registered her fifth save of the season. Five saves are not only tied for fourth-most in a single season in program history, they are tied for the MVC lead and tied for fifth nationally.

Taking Down the Irish: Valpo earned its first win over Notre Dame since 1989 on April 8 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 hasn't been the case for the Beacons in their last two wins.
Notre Dame - McDermott (Start, 1.2 IP, 2 R), Quickle (2.2 IP, 0 R, W), Purdy (0.2 IP, 0 R), Lopez (2 IP, 0 R, SV)
Drake - McDermott (Start, 2 IP, 2 R), Purdy (2 IP, 1 R, W [first career]), Quickle (1.2 IP, 0 R), Lopez (1.1 IP, 0 R, SV)

BBs vs. Ks: One thing which jumps out immediately when you look at the Beacons' stat sheet is the offense's walk/strikeout ratio. This year's team is nearly even in the two departments, entering this week with 157 walks and 163 strikeouts. Four regulars in the starting lineup have struck out ten or fewer times, while seven 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).

Sure Hands in 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. Jackson has played a flawless center field this year, racking up 72 putouts and six assists without an error - her 78 chances is the most of any Valley player with a 1.000 fielding percentage.