Baseball vs Youngstown State

[valpopal]

After taking two of three against Wright State last weekend, the baseball team won two out of three games against Youngstown St. this weekend. The Crusaders now stand in third place in the Horizon League.

There were some fine performances by individual players in the two wins. In the opener Chris Manning scored four times, and in the second game Karch Kowalczyk had six RBIs after he got the save in the first game started by Cole Webb. Dalton Lundeen, already a two-time HL Pitcher of the Week, had 9 strikeouts and allowed no earned runs in the 8 innings he pitched in game two. He has now had three straight appearances without allowing an earned run, and he leads the league in ERA.

Here are a few of my photos from this weekend that include Webb, Manning, and Lundeen.

[jetz]

Thanks for posting, pal.  It's great to have these awesome photos and someone covering the team.  I hope the university uses your work.  Hamstring issues have risen up to plague the team this week.  Burns went out in the last game of YSU with tightness, Losi was out this week with a tight hammy, and Bynum has been bitten by the hamstring bug as well.  Losi was the big loss, as we are struggling now to find a Sunday starter.  Hopefully he will return soon, but middle relief/weekday starters will still be a question mark after he returns.  Hoping for improvement this week...

[valpotx]

It was sad to see us lose that last game, but it seemed like YSU just hit us into submission early.  Hopefully we sweep both Oakland and YSU in our next matchups, as they aren't very good! 

[valpopal]

Congrats to Dalton Lundeen, named Horizon League Pitcher of the Week, and Mark Johnson, named Horizon League Batter of the Week: a sweep of the awards for Valpo! The following and other photos from the home games against Wright State and Youngstown State can be seen at the following: https://www.flickr.com/photos/96208998@N05/sets/

[valpo64]

I am amazed that our baseball uniforms seem to get worse and worse as the years pass...from caps to shirts I would think we could do better....the same goes for football

[valpotx]

Lundeen seems like he is going to be a solid pitcher for us his entire career.  It was good to see Johnson do something this weekend, as he was 0/19 or 0/20 to start the season before this last week.  He has shown in the past that he can get hot over several games (HL tournament 2 seasons back), so hopefully he carries this throughout the rest of the season.  Other than Manning, our OF has not been hitting well for much of the season, so he could be a boost!

[Valpo2008]

In response to Valpo 64. Just like our parking lot.  It keeps getting worse and worse. Are you listening Mr. AD? Good to see we have won the last two conference series. Lets keep it going!

[valpotx]

Again, you will get absolutely zero sympathy from me in regards to the parking lot and uniforms, as we had worse 10 years ago .  I am curious how the proceeds from donations are spent though, as I never really received updates from Coach Woodson on such things.  I received the first email from Schmack last week on Valpo Day, so hopefully he updates more often.

[jetz]

The grass entry area near the bleacher entry was deeply rutted during the winter with snowplows not seeing the damage they were doing.  I sent a pic of this to MLB, and am happy to report that he was there to inspect the grounds last weekend during the YSU series.  He assured me that the situation there would be rectified, as it was a possible liability.  I'll keep you all advised on the progress...

[vu72]

I am amazed that our baseball uniforms seem to get worse and worse as the years pass...from caps to shirts I would think we could do better....the same goes for football

Not sure what you would like--pin strips??  I love the camo unis and the football uniforms are terrific!!

[VULB#62]

I am amazed that our baseball uniforms seem to get worse and worse as the years pass...from caps to shirts I would think we could do better....the same goes for football

Not sure what you would like--pin strips??  I love the camo unis and the football uniforms are terrific!!

Except for the         black socks

[jetz]

I am amazed that our baseball uniforms seem to get worse and worse as the years pass...from caps to shirts I would think we could do better....the same goes for football

Not sure what you would like--pin strips??  I love the camo unis and the football uniforms are terrific!!

Camo unis are gone this year.  Those jerseys had to be paid for by the players last year.  $42/each.  They had the player's name on the back.  Also retired are the old gold jerseys that we pulled out last year for a few games.  Those were donated on our Dominican trip last fall.  These were old and a little beat up, but I loved the gold jersey look.  I wish we would get some new ones in that color.  The jerseys we have are several years old now.  We definitely could use something more up to date, IMO.

[valpotx]

When Twenge was the HC, we had to pay around $100 at the beginning of our career for the program to frame our jersey when we were done playing.  Do they still do anything like this, or do they now get them for free upon completion?

[jetz]

When Twenge was the HC, we had to pay around $100 at the beginning of our career for the program to frame our jersey when we were done playing.  Do they still do anything like this, or do they now get them for free upon completion?

Seniors get a plaque with a picture on Senior Day.  We don't pay up front (at least for the jerseys) and they do not give the jerseys away anymore.  We keep them and reuse them.