March 24, 2019
BELLEVUE, Neb. – Valley City State (N.D.) used a late offensive explosion to earn the North Star Athletic Association baseball season-opening doubleheader sweep over Dakota State (S.D.) Sunday afternoon at Bellevue West High School baseball field. The Vikings won by the scores of 14-10 and 10-1.
Dakota State fell to 2-11 overall record and 0-2 NSAA conference. Valley City State improved to 6-10 overall record and 2-0 NSAA conference record.
Both teams are scheduled to complete their NSAA four-game series Monday with a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. Each conference doubleheader features nine-inning game followed by a seven-inning game.
Game 1 – Valley City State (N.D.) 14, Dakota State (S.D.) 10 – FINAL
Dakota State was unable to take advantage of their eight-run offensive explosion in the bottom seventh inning, falling short in the conference opener slugfest to Valley City State. The Vikings answered with nine runs in the top eighth and held off the Trojans by the score of 14-10.
DSU earned the first lead of the game in the bottom second frame. Marcos Alvarez led off with a walk. Ryan Jackovich was hit-by-pitch and advanced Alvarez to second base. Keaton Hoeke produced an RBI double to score Alvarez for a 1-0 lead in favor of the Trojans.
The Vikings answered back with a run scored in the top third. Jayden Shipman started with a single. He swiped to second base. Emmanuel Leyva hit a single and advanced Shipman to third base. Grant Wehsler hit an RBI sacrifice fly to score Shipman as VCSU knotted the game at 1-1.
VCSU plated a run in the top fourth inning after an RBI ground out by Jorun Hamre to score Aiden Brook (who led off with a single and advanced to third base after DSU's defensive error), grabbing a 2-1 lead.
Brook hit an RBI sacrifice fly, followed by Brady Smith's RBI double ballooned Valley City State's lead to 4-1 in the top sixth inning.
Cody Kingsbury smashed a solo home run to give Vikings a 5-1 lead in the top seventh frame.
Dakota State mounted a furious comeback in the bottom seventh inning, scoring eight runs to regain their lead. Chris Burke and Jalen Boyd led off with back-to-back singles (Burke advanced to third after Boyd's single). A passed ball by the Vikings allowed Burke to score as DSU cut VCSU's lead to 5-2 (Boyd advanced to second base).
Samuel Drummond reached on base by a walk for the Trojans in the bottom seventh. The Vikings recorded another passed ball to advance Boyd to third and Micah DeHarty (pinch runner for Drummond) to second base. Alvarez recorded a walk to set up a bases loaded situation for DSU with no outs.
Alec Gannon, pinch hitter for Jackovich, continued the scoring attack for the Trojans as he hit a 2-RBI single to score Boyd and DeHarty (DSU trailed 5-4). Noah Hammond added an RBI single with one out to score Alvarez to tie the game at 5-5 (Gannon advanced to second base).
Gannon and Hammond each advanced one base after a defensive error committed by the Vikings. Jerrett Plunkett drilled a 2-RBI triple to score Gannon and Hammond as the Trojans earned a 7-5 lead.
Burke and Boyd hit back-to-back RBI doubles to widen Dakota State's lead to 9-5 in the bottom seventh.
Valley City State rallied back in the top eighth inning, fueled by four doubles from Hamre, Nate Soulis, Leyva and Brook. The Vikings scored nine runs to regain their lead at 14-9.
Dakota State was unable to make a comeback in the final inning, despite scoring a run. Plunkett and Burke led off with back-to-back singles (Plunkett advanced to third base after Burke's single). Boyd recorded an RBI to score Plunkett after the Vikings registered a double play defensively.
Burke went 4-of-6 at the plate for the Trojans. He had a double, three singles and an RBI. Plunkett added three hits and two RBIs. Boyd registered a double, single and an RBI. Drummond had two singles. Gannon had a single and drove in two runs. Hoeke had a hit and an RBI. Hammond recorded two hits and an RBI. Adrian Burtrimas had a double.
Smith led the Vikings' offense with four hits and two RBIs. Brook added a double, single and three RBIs. Leyva and Wehseler each had two hits. Soulis had a hit and collected two RBIs. Kingsbury hit a home run and recorded an RBI.
DSU outhit VCSU 16-14 in the game. The Trojans left 12 runners on base compared to the Vikings six runners left on base.
Adam Berryhill started the game on the pitching mound for Dakota State. He tossed seven innings and allowed five runs (two unearned) on seven hits. He struck out eight VCSU's batters. Ryan Peterson worked for an out in the eighth inning (gave up four runs on three hits). Steven Suarez (L, 0-1) took the loss in relief after pitching in the eighth (allowed three runs on one hit). Trey Randel also worked in the eighth inning. Max Luesebrink pitched 1 2/3 shutout innings and recorded three strikeouts.
Christian Peery pitched the first three innings for the Vikings. He gave up one run on three hits. Jesse Johnson (W, 2-1) earned the victory after tossing four innings in relief, despite allowing eight runs on 11 hits. He registered eight strikeouts. Shaun Kourajian worked the final two innings in relief, yielding one run on two hits.
Game 2 – Valley City State (N.D.) 10, Dakota State (S.D.) 1 – FINAL
Holding on to a slim 2-1 lead heading into the final inning of the second game, Valley City State's offense plated eight runs to secure a 10-1 victory over Dakota State.
The Vikings took the first lead of the game in the opening inning, thanks to a lead-off triple by Leyva. Sal Avila produced an RBI sacrifice fly to score Leyva for VCSU 1-0 lead.
DSU knotted the game up at 1-1 after scoring a run in the bottom second. Jackovich led off with a single. Hammond was hit-by-pitch and advanced Jackovich to second base. Johnny Moran hit a single to set up a bases loaded situation. Burke hit an RBI single to score Jackovich to tie the game. The Trojans were unable to continue their scoring chances as they left runners full when the second inning ended.
Valley City State regained their lead in the top fourth. Avila was hit-by-pitch with one out. Brook added a single and advanced Avila to second base. Smith drilled an RBI double to score Avila for VCSU 2-1 lead.
The Vikings ignited their offensive explosion with eight runs scored in the top seventh, highlighted by a solo home run by Hamre and a 3-run home run by Leyva. Valley City State's lead grew to 10-1 after Soulis' RBI fielder's choice.
Burke was 2-of-4 at the plate with two singles and an RBI for Dakota State. Plunkett, Alvarez, Jackovich and Moran each added a single. Jackovich scored a run. Hammond reached on base by a walk.
Leyva hit a home run, triple and drove in three runs for Valley City State. Brook added three hits. Smith and Hamre each registered two hits and two RBIs. Avila had a hit and two RBIs.
VCSU outhit DSU 12-6. The Trojans left nine runners on base compared to the Vikings five runners left on base.
DeHarty (L, 1-2) recorded the loss after pitching 6 1/3 innings for Dakota State. He allowed six runs on eight hits and registered four strikeouts. Randel and Luesebrink each worked in the seventh inning in relief.
Jacob Rosales (W, 2-1) earned a complete game victory for Valley City State. He yielded the Trojans to one run on six hits. He struck out ten DSU's batters.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
