March 25, 2019
BELLEVUE, Neb. – Dakota State (S.D.) fell short in the third game of the North Star Athletic Association baseball four-game series, losing a pitcher's duel with Valley City State (N.D.) Monday at Bellevue West High School baseball field. Knotted 1-1 in the ninth inning, the Vikings scored a run and held off the Trojans by the score of 2-1. DSU earned a walk-off victory in the four-game series finale, earning the first conference win of the season by the score of 4-3.
Dakota State is 3-12 overall record and 1-3 record in North Star contests. Valley City State is 7-11 overall record and 3-1 NSAA conference record.
Game 1 – Valley City State (N.D.) 2, Dakota State (S.D.) 1 – FINAL
Both teams were unable to score through the first four innings of the nine-inning game. Each team only recorded a hit. Sal Avila had a double for VCSU in the first inning, while Chris Burke had a single in the bottom fourth.
Dakota State earned its first lead of the game in the bottom half of the fifth inning, thanks to a pair of defensive miscues committed by Valley City State. Johnny Moran reached on base by VCSU's defensive error. Noah Hammond hit a ground out to advance Christian Sanchez (courtesy runner for Moran) to second base.
Keaton Hoeke reached safely on base with another VCSU's defensive error, allowing Sanchez to score for DSU 1-0 lead in the bottom fifth.
The Vikings ended their scoreless drought with a run scored in the top seventh. Brady Smith reached on base by a walk with one out. He swiped to second base with two outs.
Pinch hitter Noah Soulis produced an RBI single to score Smith as VCSU tied the game at 1-1 in the seventh frame.
Aiden Brook led off the top ninth inning with a single for Valley City State. He advanced to second base after Smith's ground out. Brook swiped to third base. Jorun Hamre recorded an RBI ground out to score Brook as VCSU earned a 2-1 lead.
The Vikings secured the victory after shutting down the Trojans in the bottom half of the ninth inning.
Burke and Moran each had a single for Dakota State. Hoeke had an RBI. Burke swiped one base. Marcos Alvarez reached on base by a walk.
Hamre and Soulis each led the Vikings with a single and an RBI. Avila had a double. Brook, Nathan Demarais and Jayden Shipman each added a single. Smith and Demarais each walked once.
VCSU outhit DSU 6-3 in the game. The Vikings committed three defensive errors compared to the Trojans no errors. Valley City State stranded six runners on base while Dakota State left four runners on base.
Burke (L, 0-2) took the loss, despite tossing a complete game for the Trojans. He allowed two runs on six hits and recorded five strikeouts.
Marcus Niemann started the game on the pitching mound for the Vikings. He worked for five innings and gave up an unearned run on two hits. Phillip Almanza (W, 2-3) earned the victory in relief, pitching four innings and limited DSU to one hit. He struck four Trojan batters.
Game 2 – Dakota State (S.D.) 4, Valley City State (N.D.) 3 – FINAL
Dakota State scored a run in the final four innings, including the game-winning run with two outs in the bottom seventh inning for the first NSAA conference win of the season.
VCSU took the first lead in the four-game series finale in the top third. Alexandro Valenzuela and Shipman hit back-to-back singles with one out. Grant Wehseler produced a two-out RBI double to score Valenzuela to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead.
The Trojans answered back with a run scored in the bottom fourth. Jalen Boyd led off with a hit-by-pitch. He advanced to second base after Alvarez's single. Hammond recorded a sacrifice bunt to advance Boyd to third base and Alvarez to second base.
Adrian Butrimas hit an RBI sacrifice fly to score Boyd as Dakota State knotted the game at 1-1 in the fourth.
DSU's Hoeke led off the bottom fifth with a walk. He swiped to second base. He advanced to third base after a wild pitch committed by the Vikings. Burke collected an RBI ground out to score Hoeke as the Trojans earned a 2-1 lead.
Valley City State plated two runs in the top sixth inning, thanks to a 2-run home run by Smith to regain a 3-2 lead.
Dakota State answered back in the bottom half of the sixth frame, thanks to a lead-off double by Boyd. Butrimas reached on base by VCSU's defensive error and allowed Boyd to score to tie the game at 3-3.
The Vikings were unable to score in the final inning, despite leaving runners on third and first base.
After two outs were recorded in the bottom seventh inning, the Trojans set up the game-winning run when Burke drilled a double followed by Samuel Drummond's RBI walk-off single.
Burke led DSU's offense attack with a double, single and an RBI. Boyd added a double and scored twice. Butrimas produced two RBIs. Tanner Landman and Marcos Alvarez each had a hit. Boyd and Hoeke each walked once. Drummond had a single and an RBI.
Smith had a home run, single and drove in two runs for VCSU. Emmanuel Leyva, Jacob Miller, Valenzuela and Soulis each added a single. Wehseler had a double and a single.
VCSU had nine hits in the game compared to DSU six hits. The Trojans left six runners on base, while the Vikings had five runners left on base.
Brett Sanchez (W, 1-1) earned his first collegiate victory after tossing a complete game for Dakota State. He allowed three runs on nine hits. He registered five strikeouts.
Nicholas Vargas started the game for Valley City State. He gave up three runs (one unearned) on four hits. He recorded seven strikeouts. Miller (L, 0-3) was tabbed the loss after working for two outs in relief.
It was the first time since May 1, 2016 that DSU had a pair of pitchers tossing a complete game in back-to-back North Star conference games (Ian Barker and Richard Sternberg versus Waldorf, Iowa at Flynn Field).
Up Next
Dakota State plays a non-conference nine-inning game at Briar Cliff (Iowa) on Wednesday afternoon. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Bishop Mueller Field in Sioux City, Iowa.
The Trojans resume back to North Star conference play, staying on the road for a four-game series at Waldorf (Iowa) on Saturday and Sunday.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
