April 26, 2025

MAYVILLE, N.D. – Both Dakota State's (S.D.) starting pitchers registered 10 strikeouts in seven innings Saturday afternoon, propelling to the North Star Athletic Association baseball regular season finale with a doubleheader sweep over Mayville State (N.D.) at Scott Berry Field.  The Trojans cruised to a 12-1 victory in the third game of the four-game series and held on to a 9-8 11-innings thriller in the final ever NSAA regular season contest.

Dakota State is 24-22 overall record and completed their NSAA scheduled with 10-10 record.  The Trojans finished in a two-way tie for third place in the conference standings with Dickinson State (N.D.), who swept Valley City State (N.D.) on the same day.  Mayville State dropped to 14-30 overall record and 6-14 record in the league.

DSU waits and hears about the pairings and schedule for the North Star Athletic Association/Cal Pac conference tournament, which starts Thursday, May 1, at Dakota Community Bank & Trust Ballpark in Dickinson, N.D. (hosted by Dickinson State).  Simpson (Calif.) and La Sierra (Calif.) will join six NSAA teams in the eight-team double elimination tournament.

The second automatic bid will be awarded to the tournament's champion (unless if regular-season champion Bellevue wins, the tournament runner-up will receive the second automatic bid).  Stay tuned to the dsuathletics.com website or download the Trojan Nation fan app for the conference tournament information.

Game 1 – Dakota State (S.D.) 12, Mayville State (N.D.) 1 – FINAL

Dakota State took the first lead of the game in the top first inning.  Darcy Barry led off with a walk and swiped to second base.  Aidan Perry was hit-by-pitch.  Both Barry and Perry advanced one base after MSU's wild pitch.  Cassidy Watt hit an RBI ground out to score Barry as DSU led 1-0.

The Comets answered with a run in the bottom half of the first inning with a solo home run by Carson Lundmark, tying the game 1-1.

The Trojans erupted for six runs after the first two outs were recorded in the top second.  Cameron Kittridge, Connor Raney, and Berry each recorded a walk to set up a bases loaded situation.  DSU regained their lead at 3-1 after Perry hit a 2-RBI single to score Kittridge and Raney (Barry advanced to third base).

Hunter Vikemyr followed up with an RBI single to score Barry to extend Dakota State's lead to 4-1 in the top second.  Watt added an RBI single to score Perry to make it 5-1 in favor of the Trojans.

After a wild pitch by Mayville State, Camaron Haller produced a 2-RBI single to widen their lead to 7-1 in the top second frame.

Dakota State ballooned their lead to 8-1 as Vikemyr smashed a solo home run with one out in the top fourth.

DSU plated four runs in the top fifth inning.  Ben Loos and Kittridge hit back-to-back singles with one out.  They advanced one base after the Comets committed a defensive error.  Raney hit a 2-RBI single to score Loos and Kittridge to make it 10-1 DSU.

Raney swiped to second base in the top fifth for the Trojans.  Barry added a walk.  Both Raney and Barry advanced one base after a defensive error by MSU.  Vikemry capped the top fifth inning with 2-RBI single with two outs, scoring Raney and Barry for a 12-1 Trojans lead.

Dakota State outhit Mayville State 13-3 in the game. 

Vikemyr sparked the Trojans by going 4-of-5 at the plate with a home run, three singles and drove in a game-high four runs.  He also tossed a complete game victory on the pitching mound, yielding the Comets to one run on three hits.  Vikemyr (W, 6-5) recorded a season-high 10 strikeouts.

Kittridge had a double and a single for Dakota State.  Loos tallied three singles.  Perry, Watt, Haller, and Raney each registered a hit and two RBIs.  Barry walked three times.  Barry and Raney each had a stolen base.

Lundmark led Mayville State with a home run and an RBI.  Quinn Pershing and Juan Villarreal each added a single.

Calvin Watkins (L, 4-5) recorded the setback after pitching 1 2/3 innings for MSU.  He allowed seven runs on four hits and issued four walks.  Daniel Hernandez worked 4 1/3 innings in relief, giving up five runs (one unearned) on eight hits.  Brady Robinson tossed a scoreless seventh inning in relief.

Game 2 – Dakota State (S.D.) 9, Mayville State (N.D.) 8 – FINAL/11 innings

Dakota State needed extra innings to hold off Mayville State, despite holding a 4-1 lead after six-and-half innings in the four-game series finale.

Vikemyr and Watt hit back-to-back singles with two outs in the top first inning.  Haller produced an RBI single to score Vikemyr to give DSU a 1-0 lead.

The Trojans continued their scoring run in the top second frame.  Loos led off with hit-by-pitch and swiped to second base.  Raney hit an RBI single to score Loos to extend DSU's lead to 2-0.

After Perry hit a single to advance Raney to third base in the top second, Dakota State made it 3-0 as Vikemyr drilled an RBI double to score Raney.

Mayville State led off the bottom third with back-to-back doubles by Juan Villarreal and Chris Shopbell.  Shopbell produced an RBI to score Villarreal as the Comets trailed 3-1.

The Trojans scored a run in the top fifth inning.  Watt hit a single with one out.  Haller hit a ground out to advance Seth Altwine, catcher's courtesy runner for Watt, to second base.  Dawson Portner hit an RBI single to score Altwine to balloon DSU's lead to 4-1.

Lundmark hit a solo home run with two outs in the bottom seventh as the Comets trailed 4-2.

With Perry on third base after a single with one out and advanced to second after MSU's error and to third after Vikemyr's single, Watt drilled an RBI double to score Perry as the Trojans extended their lead to 5-2 in the top eighth.

Riley Rankin smashed a 2-run home run in the bottom eighth, scoring Kevin Conway who hit a lead-off double.  Mayville State cut Dakota State's lead to 5-4.

Lundmark was hit-by-pitch in the bottom ninth with one out for MSU.  Conway added a two-out single to advance Lundmark to second base.  Rankin hit an RBI single to score Lundmark as the Comets knotted the game 5-5.

The Trojans' defense halted the Comets to score the winning run as Jack McQueen hit a ground out to second base, extending the game into extra innings.

Both teams did not score in the 10^th inning.

The first DSU four batters in the top 11^th inning reached safely on base.  Vikemyr led off with a walk, followed by back-to-back singles by Watt and Haller to set up a bases loaded situation.  The Trojans regained their lead at 6-5 as Portner recorded an RBI hit-by-pitch to score Vikemyr.

Kittridge reached safely on first base as Mayville State committed a defensive error, scoring a run for the Trojans (7-5 DSU lead).  The Comets dropped a pop up, committed another defensive error to allow DSU to score two more runs, extending their lead to 9-5.

The Comets answered with three runs in the bottom 11^th inning.  Conway and Rankin hit back-to-back singles with one out.  A defensive error committed by theTrojans allowed MSU to score two runs, trailing 9-7.
After McQueen advanced to third base after DSU's wild pitch, Pershing hit an RBI single to score McQueen as Comets trimmed the Trojans' lead to 9-8.

DSU ended the game with a fly out to right field by Villarreal, securing the victory for the Trojans and ending the North Star Athletic Association baseball regular season contest.

Mayville State registered 14 hits in the game compared to Dakota State 13 hits.  The Trojans left 14 runners on base, while the Comets left 13 runners on base.

Watt paced DSU by going 4-for-6 at the plate with a double, three singles, and an RBI.  Vikemyr added a double, two singles, two walks, two runs, and an RBI.  Perry and Haller each had two singles.  Portner collected a single and two RBIs.  Barry had two walks and an RBI.  Raney had a hit and an RBI.  Barry, Altwine, Portner, and Loos each swiped one base.

Ranklin had a home run, two singles, and three RBIs for MSU.  Lundmark had a home run and an RBI.  Shopbell collected two doubles, RBI, and a stolen base.  Conway tallied three hits.  McQueen and Pershing each had a hit and an RBI.  Villarreal recorded two hits.

Alex Swack started the game on the pitching mound for Dakota State.  He tossed seven innings and allowed two runs on six hits.  He recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts.  Braylon Bear pitched the eighth inning, giving up two runs on two hits.  Aiden Urbom (W, 3-1) earned the victory in the relief, pitching the final three innings in the game.  He allowed four runs (three unearned) on six hits.

Derek Palmiere tossed five innings for Mayville State.  He allowed four runs on eight hits and issued three walks.  He had four strikeouts.  Jack Patten worked two scoreless innings in relief.  Jack Wold (L, 1-1) took the defeat after pitching four innings in relief, giving up five runs (three unearned) on five hits.