Valpo (19-29, 7-17 MVC)
April 29 - at Illinois (14-36, 3-17 B1G) - 5 p.m.
May 1 - at Evansville (21-24, 12-12 MVC) - 2:30 p.m. DH
May 2 - at Evansville - 2 p.m.

Next Up in Valpo Softball: The Valpo softball team finishes out the 2026 season this week with its last four games. The Beacons start their final road trip with a Wednesday evening game at Illinois before they continue on to Evansville, where they will face the Purple Aces three times over two days.

Previously: Valpo lost in mid-week action last week at Indiana, but bounced back by taking its home series against Bradley with wins in the opener, 7-6, and the finale, 6-4. Grace Hollopeter put the Beacons ahead for good in the opener with a three-run homer in the fifth inning and then delivered a walk-off two-run homer in the finale to cap Senior Day.

Looking Ahead: 2027.

Following Valpo Softball: Wednesday's game at Illinois will be broadcast on BTN+, while the Friday doubleheader of the Evansville series is 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 (39-59 [.398] at Valpo, 2nd season; 108-126 [.462] 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: Illinois - Valpo is looking for its first win in program history over the Fighting Illini, entering Wednesday's game 0-9 all-time against Illinois. This is the second straight season the two programs have met in Champaign, with Illinois earning a 5-1 win last year.

Evansville - Valpo is just 8-26 all-time against the Purple Aces, including a 5-14 mark since joining the MVC prior to the 2018 season. Last season, Evansville claimed the series win in three tightly contested games at the Valpo Softball Complex, winning the first two games of the series, 7-5 and 6-4 (8) before the Beacons earned an 8-7 victory in the finale.

Scouting the Opposition: Illinois - The Fighting Illini come into Wednesday's game with a 14-36 record this year and are 3-17 in Big Ten play following a three-game sweep at the hands of Penn State last weekend. Skylar Brennan leads the team with a .324 batting average, while Eileen Donahue has a team-best 13 HRs and 36 RBIs. In the circle, Illinois owns a team ERA of 5.73 - Karley Yergler has seen the most action, tossing 104.1 innings, and is 2-16 with a 4.83 ERA and 57 strikeouts.

Evansville - The Purple Aces enter the week with a 21-24 record and are 12-12 in MVC play, currently in the six-team MVC Tournament field if the season were to end today. Evansville plays at Indiana Wednesday afternoon before this weekend's series. Niki Bode leads the Purple Aces at the plate with a .407 batting average, and Brooke Voss paces the team with 10 homers and 33 RBIs. Kate Ridgway has thrown nearly half the innings in the circle and is 10-11 with a 3.96 ERA and 135 strikeouts in 136 innings of work.

Senior Day Walk-Off: For the fifth time in the program's last 10 Senior Days, Valpo earned a walk-off win on Senior Day, as Grace Hollopeter capped the weekend series with a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh of the series finale, also scoring Kim Rodas as the Beacons beat Bradley, 6-4. Valpo also picked up a walk-off win on Senior Day in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2024. It was the second time in those five instances that a senior has accounted for both the game-winning run and the game-winning RBI, as the 2024 walk-off featured both as well.

More Walk-Off Notes: Saturday was the Beacons' second walk-off victory of the season, as they got a game-winning RBI single from Mack Gallagher in the bottom of the seventh for a 6-5 win over Oakland back on February 8. It was Valpo's third walk-off win over Bradley since joining the MVC, and the program's first walk-off home run since Morgan Matalin went deep in the bottom of the eighth for a 7-5 win over Cleveland State on March 8, 2020.

Winning the Series: Not only did Hollopeter's home run create a memorable moment to cap Senior Day, it also gave the Beacons the series win over Bradley, as Valpo also won the series opener by a 7-6 count. It was the program's first MVC series win of the season. Valpo has won the series over Bradley in back-to-back seasons, and has now won the season series over the Braves four times since joining the MVC.

WLL No Longer: Valpo's series-opening win marked the fifth time in six three-game MVC series this season that the Beacons won the series opener. This time, however, Valpo was able to avoid dropping each of the final two games - the outcome the first four times this year after it won the series opener. 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.

Playing as Scheduled: Last weekend's series against the Braves got adjusted due to rain on Friday, as the teams played one game on Friday and then a doubleheader Saturday. That continues the trend this spring, as Valpo has played just one of nine MVC series - the series at Murray State - as originally scheduled with no game time or date adjustments. Knock on wood, though - as of the time these notes were written, the weather Friday/Saturday in Evansville looks pretty clear!

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.

Seniors on the All-Time Charts: With one week remaining in their collegiate careers, a number of the Beacon seniors hold spots on the program's career top-10 charts. Mack Gallagher's 71 walks are sixth-most in program history, while her .431 on-base percentage at Valpo would rank fifth all-time. Azalya Lopez's nine career saves are third-most in program history, while her .264 batting average against in the circle would rank tenth. Kim Rodas has drawn 67 career walks in her four years, seventh-most in program history, and she is just six assists away from cracking the top-10 in that category as well. Sydney McDermott has made 100 career appearances in the circle, tied for 10th in program history, and is just three strikeouts away from the top-10 in program history in the category.

Hollopeter Goes Out With a Bang: Senior Grace Hollopeter's time at the Valpo Softball Complex might have been short-lived, as she spent just this season here at Valpo after three years at Purdue Fort Wayne, but she sure put together a memorable Senior Weekend. Hollopeter started the weekend by going 2-for-3 with four RBIs in the series-opening win, putting the Beacons in front for good with a three-run homer in the fifth inning. She went 2-for-2 with a run scored and a sacrifice in the middle game, and then recorded four RBIs for the second time on the weekend in the series finale. Hollopeter gave Valpo the lead at the time with a two-run double in the fifth inning, and then connected on a two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the seventh in the final home game of her collegiate career.

Honors for Grace: With her performances last week, Hollopeter was recognized by the MVC as its Newcomer of the Week - her first weekly award as a Beacon and the sixth overall of her collegiate career. She became Valpo's first MVC weekly award winner since Erin Metz was named Pitcher of the Week and Azalya Lopez Newcomer of the Week on April 7 last season. Hollopeter was also recognized as one of the 'Selected Top Performances' in the NFCA's National Player/Pitcher of the Week release.

Gallagher Goes Deep: Senior Mack Gallagher added yet another home run to her resume last week, briefly giving the Beacons the lead with a first-inning longball at Indiana - the 33rd overall of her collegiate career. She is now tied for seventh in a season in program history with 10 home runs and ranks eighth with 41 RBIs, while she also is tied for fourth in walks (35) and eighth in on-base percentage (.473). Gallagher currently ranks second in the MVC in walks, seventh in on-base percentage, seventh in RBIs and tied for seventh in home runs.

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 40 of 46 games this year. Gallagher has reached base multiple times in a game on 21 occasions this year - twice in 10 games, three times in seven 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, racking up a hit in all three games to push her season total to 59, third-best in the Valley and tied for ninth in a single season in program history. The sophomore has 20 multi-hit games on the year. She ranks seventh in a single season in program history with 21 stolen bases, good for third in the MVC, and her .369 batting average - ninth in the MVC - would currently rank her tied for 10th in program history. With two weeks to play, she is also poised to crack top-10 single-season charts in doubles (13, 1 shy) and runs scored (36, 2 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 series-opening 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.

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 168 walks and 170 strikeouts. Four regulars in the starting lineup have struck out ten or fewer times, while seven players have walked at least ten times and three have drawn 20+ walks. 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).