JT Reed and Davey Demeter hit back-to-back home runs late in game two Friday night as the Valley City State baseball team swept Dickinson State and remained undefeated this season
Valley City State won game one, 4-3, and then completed the sweep with an 8-6 win in game two. The Vikings are now 4-0 overall this season.
Reed had the go-ahead hit in both games Friday, stroking an RBI triple in the fourth inning of game one to put the Vikings ahead 4-3. In game two, the Vikings and Blue Hawks were tied 6-6 in the sixth inning before Reed had a go-ahead solo home run to right field. Demeter followed with a solo shot to center field and then shut the door on the mound in the seventh inning.
"That's a couple good wins against a team that I think is very good," said VCSU head coach Casey Olney. "We had a bunch of different guys come up big in clutch situations tonight. Freshman Jaden Babiuk had a clutch bases-loaded single when we trailed in game two, and then of course JT and Davey's home runs were huge as well."
The Vikings finished the doubleheader with five two-out RBIs. Demeter picked up the save in both games and has now recorded a save in all four of VCSU's victories.
"Everyone having confidence that Davey will lock it down on the mound is a really key thing for our early success," said Olney. "He's 4-for-4 in saves and that is impressive for a guy who hasn't really pitched much at the college level."
Up next: The Vikings will travel to Dickinson State on Wednesday, Sept. 29, for another doubleheader at 3 p.m. CT.
GAME 1: VCSU 4, Dickinson State 3
Reed Butz pitched five strong innings for the Vikings in game one, allowing seven hits and three runs as he picked up his first win of the season. William Hlady and Demeter both pitched a shutout inning in relief.
Chase Feller led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run, depositing the first pitch he saw over the left-field fence. After Dickinson went ahead 3-1 with three runs in the top of the third, the Vikings answered right back. Dustin Mertz and Ryan Reynolds had RBI singles in the bottom of the inning to tie it at 3-3.
In the bottom of the fourth, Reed pulled an RBI triple down the right-field line to put the Vikings ahead 4-3.
Reed finished the game 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Feller, Reynolds and Mertz each had a hit and drove in a run. The Vikings scored their four runs on six hits. Dickinson plated its three runs on seven hits.
GAME 2: VCSU 8, Dickinson State 6
Reed and Demeter's sixth-inning home runs capped a come-from-behind win in game two of the doubleheader.
The Vikings trailed 5-2 in the fourth inning before rallying for the victory. VCSU plated four runs in the fourth inning to regain the lead at 6-5, getting a bases-loaded two-run single from Jaden Babiuk and an RBI double by Feller.
Dickinson State tied the game at 6-6, setting up VCSU's late-inning blasts. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Reed went deep over the right-field fence and Demeter followed with a shot over the high fence in center field to make it 8-6.
The Blue Hawks put the tying run on against Demeter in the seventh, but the right-hander finished with a pop out and a strikeout to end the game.
Feller picked up the win after pitching two innings in relief, scattering four hits and allowing one run. William Hlady started on the mound for VCSU and went four innings, giving up nine hits and five runs. Demeter allowed one hit in a scoreless seventh inning.
Drew Nixon and Jayden Shipman each had two hits for the offense, and Nixon scored twice. Six other Vikings had one hit each, and Babiuk drove in two runs.
