Baseball Recap: Valparaiso Has No Trouble Against Portage

Valparaiso extended their winning streak to three on Tuesday, bumping their season record up to 4-4 in the process. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the Portage Indians an 11-0 shutout. That 11 run margin sets a new team best for the Vikings this season.

Caden Crowell

Batters Struck Out

04/22/25 @ Portage	12
04/15/25 vs Crown Point	7
04/08/25 vs Lake Central	3
05/22/24 @ Crown Point	11
05/14/24 vs La Porte	9
+ 2 more games

Caden Crowell made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out 12 over five innings pitched. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in April of 2024. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and one stolen base. He is becoming a predictor of Valparaiso's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 1-4 when he doesn't).

In other batting news, Valparaiso got a massive performance out of Trent Gill, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI, one triple, and one run. That's the most RBI Gill has posted since back in April of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Grant McFarden, who went 1-for-2 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI.

Valparaiso always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .611. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in four consecutive contests.

Having lost for the first time this season, Portage fell to 8-1-1. They haven't had much luck with Valparaiso recently, as the team has come up short the last five times they've met.

On Portage's side, they saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Devon Ortiz, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one double. That double was Ortiz's first of the season.

Valparaiso will have a chance to go back-to-back against Portage: the pair's next game is a rematch scheduled at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.