Softball 2012

[new2ff]

Softball is looking good.Real tests will be with NMS & after.
Playing the Az./Ca. schedule is good move in prep for Horizon.

[new2ff]

Great win by Valpo over NMSU,they are a good team with some quality wins this year over likes of Indiana, Tx-El paso, others. NMSU has played a tough schedule & yet Valpo took it to them. Great pitching effort tonight.

[boomdad]

National Rankings, We have some pretty good rankings from our players on the national level. Nice work ladies keep it up.


http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/resources/stats/softball/index.html

[valpotx]

They seem to be hitting their stride at the right time!

[KL31NY]

Ummmm.... anyone else notice this? 8-0 (6 inn.) and 17-0 (5 inn.). Rutkowski ties the single-season homer record with 7-odd weeks left in the year. 2 shutout pitching efforts, nearly every batter got at least a hit. After giving up so many chances against Purdue, they came out with some fire against Green Bay.

[valpotx]

Saturday was an absolute beatdown of GB, great job!  Rutkowski is putting up some ridiculous numbers: 11 HR, 43 RBI in only 29 games???

[valporun]

Green Bay hasn't been the gold standard in the HL, but that 12-run 4th inning in Game 2 was interesting. Can't wait to see what happens in the last month of conference play.

[boomdad]

The National standings just keep getting better and better for the team and players. Nice job ladies. Keep up the good work!!!!!! 

[vu72]

Valpo wins two at Wright State, 4-2 and 10 zip.  Now 8-0 in conference and first place!  Way to go gals!!

[valpotx]

Rutkowski also named as a top 25 finalist for national player of the year!  What she is doing this year is downright ridiculous.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/softball/news/2011-12/11650/rutkowski-among-25-finalists-for-usa-softball-collegiate-player-of-the-year/

[boomdad]

The girls break out the broom in Fairborn. Nice job ladies

[KL31NY]

Wanted to turn back to the preseason when I talked w/ Coach Stevens and reflect on my comments in light of the recent success. First from early February:

I talked with Coach Stevens earlier this week, and after reflecting on his comments and the ones I see here, I feel like this could be the year for the program if all falls into place. With all the experience returning and the stellar senior class that Schneider brought in years ago, this team should be right in the race for either the regular season or tournament title. I'd like not only to see how well Valpo performs but to see if the rest of the Horizon League is shown that the Crusaders are ready to be a consistent club year-in, year-out in the Horizon League. Granted, there will be a lot to replace after this season ends, but I am ready to see where this story goes.

I wanted to stay on the handle when I said this before. Seeing how this team plays and their great start in HL play, I am willing to switch is for could now. This club is in clear control of first place, and if they sweep or even go 2-1 against YSU this weekend, I believe it's their race to lose.

[vu72]

Valpo was down 12-0 after 2 to YSU and came back to win 13-12!!  Great performance!  Still undefeated in conference!!   

[KL31NY]

7-0 shutout for a league sweep of YSU. That's now 12-0 in league action. The best start in Horizon League/Midwestern Collegiate Conference action since UIC went a perfect 14-0 in 1997.

[boomdad]

Fantastic job, The comeback was incredible. Defiantly not a game for game tracker, you had to witness it yourself to believe it. The heart that this team has is scary. Lets hope they keep the momentum rolling at ND.

[valpotx]

The awesome thing is that when I was watching the live updates, after we got down 12-0, I still believed we had a chance to win, much like the ladies did!  Great job so far, and keep it up!

[vu72]

Guess what? Valpo's magic number is "ONE" going into today's game with Butler.  A win today will clinch the championship and hosting duties for the tourney!  The titles just keep rolling along!   

Getter done today gals!!   

[boomdad]

Lets hope they roll out with some fire and play like they have something to prove. 

[valpotx]

This would be our third regular season conference championship, and first for the women!  Baseball is only 2 games back from first as well, so maybe we end up with 4 this year, and top 4 in conference cup standings!  Tremendous improvement in just about every sport this year, so hopefully it keeps up each year!  Now all we need is our first HL NCAA bid, with softball also the most likely with how bad we are beating conference teams.

[vusupporter]

Guess what? Valpo's magic number is "ONE" going into today's game with Butler.  A win today will clinch the championship and hosting duties for the tourney!  The titles just keep rolling along!   

Getter done today gals!!   

Actually, the magic number would be 2 going into today, if this week's notes were accurate.

"What's On the Line: Entering the next-to-last week of regular season play, the Crusaders have their destiny in their own hands this week.  Assuming no rainouts, Valpo can secure at least a share of the Horizon League regular season championship with four wins over their last nine games.  Four wins would leave the Crusaders with a maximum of seven losses in league play, a mark which no team would be able to better.  One win over Loyola among those four wins would also ensure that Valpo would earn the #1 seed for the Horizon League Championship and the right to host the tournament on its campus."

[KL31NY]

Biggest day of the season today! Valpo swept by Loyola yesterday, so the Crusaders really need a win today if they still have a shot to win the regular season title and host the tournament. The reason why the game is so big...

Loyola already owns the head-to-head tiebreaker after yesterday. So if Loyola wins today, they'll be one game back of Valpo. The Ramblers will play (and likely sweep) Detroit next, and under this scenario, Valpo would have to sweep Cleveland State to win the title outright. 2-of-3 would earn a share of the title, but the tournament would be in Chicago.

If Valpo can win today, they'll go "Dormie 3" on Loyola (3 games up, 3 to go) and will need one more win at Cleveland State to earn the title and to host. Also, a win today and a loss from UIC (who has a DH w/ Youngstown State) will already guarantee at least a share of the program's first-ever conference title. That should also ease the tension further to take at least one from the Vikings to win outright.

Also, senior day ceremonies today for the seven outgoing seniors, arguably the best recruiting class the program has ever seen. I'll let former coach Randy Schneider speak for himself

"I truly feel this is one of the finest classes of players we have ever assembled here," concluded Schneider.  "This group of seven players really has the potential to take the Valparaiso softball program to the next level." -11/26/07, comment on signing this year's seniors to their NLI

[valpotx]

Good win today to clinch a share of the title at a minimum!  We have three against CSU next, so if we win one of those, we are the sole champ.  Good job ladies!

[Crusaderfan2]

What a great atmosphere for a game yesterday (Sunday) against Loyola.  The crowd was into every pitch and the VU pitcher  Lagesse, after suffering a tough extra inning loss the day before, just rose to the occasion.  Dozens of high school aged players in the stands cheering for VU, calling the pitcher and the other players by name. This communicates that the youth age softball community is paying attention to Valpo Softball.  This group of seniors has left their mark.  Because of them and a strong academic reputation, VU will land better and better players. 

Let's leave Randy out of this.  He recruited them, yes and we will give him credit for that but did more to bring them down.

[vu72]

Valpo wins 7-0 at CSU to clinch the Championship outright!!  Congrats to the gals!  Valpo's third championship!!  Can we make it four with baseball??  Rain delay at WSU.

[valpotx]

Great job ladies, and our best possibility of an NCAA bid!  Baseball won yesterday, so we may get 4 pending the last 8 games of conference