NOTRE DAME, Ind. (Interstat) — A dominant relief outing from Caden Crowell and a decisive sixth-inning rally propelled the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to a 6-1 victory over the Valparaiso Beacons in nonconference baseball Tuesday evening at Frank Eck Stadium.

The game, a makeup of a previously postponed contest, saw the Fighting Irish improve to 17-15 overall, while the Beacons fell to 9-23.

The most critical sequence of the game unfolded in the bottom of the sixth inning, breaking a 1-1 deadlock that had persisted since the first. Notre Dame loaded the bases with one out against Valparaiso reliever Dylan Immel on a single by Shane Miranda and walks to Jamie Zee and Noah Coy. After a pitching change, Mark Quatrani drew a bases-loaded walk to force in Miranda, giving Notre Dame a 2-1 lead. Bino Watters followed by lacing a two-run single to right field, scoring Zee and Coy. Quatrani was thrown out at third on the play, but the damage was done, staking the Irish to a 4-1 advantage.

Notre Dame added insurance in the seventh on back-to-back RBI doubles from Miranda and Zee to complete the scoring.

The offensive outburst was set up by the stellar work of Notre Dame’s bullpen, led by Crowell. The right-hander, named the top star for the Irish, entered in the fourth inning and delivered three shutout frames, allowing just two hits while striking out six. This performance marked a sharp rebound for Crowell, who had surrendered nine earned runs over his previous three outings spanning just three innings. Noah Rooney followed with two perfect innings of relief to secure the win.

Valparaiso’s lone run came on a solo home run by shortstop Case Sullivan in the top of the fifth inning, briefly tying the game. Sullivan finished 3 for 4, accounting for nearly half of the Beacons’ seven hits. Notre Dame’s 12-hit attack was paced by Watters, who went 3 for 5 with two RBIs, and Miranda, who was a perfect 3 for 3 with an RBI, two runs scored and a walk.

The game began with early solo home runs. Notre Dame’s Quatrani answered an unearned Valparaiso run in the first by launching a solo shot to center field in the bottom half of the inning. The Beacons had scored without a hit in the top of the first, capitalizing on a hit batter, a walk and a Notre Dame error.

Valparaiso used eight pitchers in the game, with five — Justin Bultemeier, Hunter Frost, Christian Hack, Joe Seiber and the starter Adam Guazzo — combining for 5 1/3 scoreless innings. However, the bullpen faltered in the sixth and seventh innings, allowing five runs.

The result defied the projection from Interstat’s game simulator, which had forecast a 3-1 Valparaiso victory, though the site’s ELO rating system heavily favored Notre Dame with an 88.3% win probability.

Notre Dame opens a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series at Florida State on Friday. Valparaiso begins a Missouri Valley Conference series at Illinois-Chicago, also on Friday.