The Valparaiso University baseball team battled back with a two-out, two-run single in the eighth to get within a run, but a one-out double in the ninth went to waste as the Beacons came up a run shy in a 5-4 defeat to Western Michigan on Tuesday in Kalamazoo, Mich.
 
How It Happened

• The Beacons had a chance in the opening inning after a hit batter and a walk, but a 4-3 double play ended the threat.
• A two-out, bloop single down the right-field line in the bottom of the first gave Western Michigan an early 1-0 lead.
• Western Michigan scored twice in the third, but it could have been worse as a double play ended the inning.
• The Beacons got on the board in the top of the fourth as Brayden Pleau (Appleton, Wis. / Kimberly) ripped a double to left center, driving in Eli Riley (Zanesville, Ind. / Norwell), who had led off the inning with a bunt single for Valpo's first knock of the game.
• After permitting the two third-inning runs in his first frame of work, Valpo pitcher Dalton Swinehart (Elkhart, Ind. / Concord) settled in and retired the side in order in the fourth. He allowed consecutive singles to start the fifth, but the Broncos stranded two in scoring position as he worked out of that inning without allowing a run, keeping the score at 3-1 in favor of the hosts through five.
• The Beacons sliced the deficit in half in the top of the seventh when Riley picked up his second hit of the day, a run-scoring single.
• Western Michigan scored a pair of unearned runs in the seventh. Lefty Christian Hack (Oak Forest, Ill. / Tinley Park) was eventually summoned from the bullpen and induced the final out without further damage, but the Broncos had built the lead to 5-2 through seven.
• In the top of the eighth, a two-out single by Cal Schembra (Greenwood, Ind. / Center Grove) whittled the lead back to one at 5-4, but the Broncos got a strikeout to end the frame with the potential tying run stranded 90 feet away.
• Senior Spencer Boynton (Tampa, Fla. / Seffner Christian) worked three up, three down in the bottom of the eighth, keeping the Beacons down by just a run. Pleau's second double of the game got the tying run into scoring position in the ninth, but he was stranded there.

Inside the Game

• Riley had three hits, his third three-hit game of the year and first since March 22 against Murray State.
• Pleau doubled twice, his second straight game with multiple extra-base knocks after he doubled and homered on Saturday. Tuesday was his first two-double game in a Valpo uniform. He had the team's only two extra-base hits of the day, taking over the team lead with nine doubles on the season.
• Valpo had traffic on the bases, but stranded 14 runners on base in Tuesday's game, the team's second most of the year and most since 15 in the season opener on Feb. 13 at Gardner-Webb. The Beacons had a dozen free passes (eight walks, four HBP).
• Valpo fell to 1-6 in one-run games this season and dropped a one-run game in Kalamazoo for the second straight year. The Beacons are 2-15 in one-run affairs since the start of the 2025 campaign.

Up Next
The Beacons (8-20) will return home to host Bradley on Friday at 3 p.m., beginning a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series at Emory G. Bauer Field. Admission is free and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.