TUCSON, ARIZ. – Valley City State pitchers turned in some solid performances on Thursday as the Vikings opened conference play with a split against Dickinson State.
 
Daniel Alvarado and Adam Thompson combined to pitch nine strong innings in game one as VCSU won 5-3. In game two, Hunter Magnuson gave the Vikings a quality start but Dickinson scored late to edge the Vikings, 5-4.
 
With the split, Valley City State is now 4-13 overall and 1-1 in conference play. Dickinson State moves to 9-12 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
 
Up next: VCSU and Dickinson State conclude their 4-game conference series with another doubleheader Friday in Tucson. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. CDT.
 
VCSU 5, Dickinson State 3
The Vikings played a solid game defensively while Daniel Alvarado and Adam Thompson combined for a strong pitching performance in VCSU's 5-3 victory to start the doubleheader.
 
Alvarado started for VCSU and pitched four solid innings, striking out five while giving up four hits and two runs. Adam Thompson came on for the win in relief, going the final five innings. Thompson did not walk a batter and allowed just one run and three hits. He set the Blue Hawks down in order in both the seventh and eighth innings, part of a stretch where eight straight Blue Hawks were retired late in the game.
 
The Vikings struck first with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. Dustin Mertz reached on a single to leadoff the game, stole second base and then scored on Shane Nixon's RBI single. Riley Resnick added an RBI groundout later in the inning to give the Vikings a 2-0 lead.
 
The Blue Hawks tied the game in the bottom of the third inning, plating runs on an RBI double by Keanu Calamayan and a sacrifice fly from Dawson Cortese.
 
VCSU took the lead for good with a two-out rally in the fifth. Carter Dodd started the rally with a two-out single, which was then followed by back-to-back RBI doubles from Dustin Mertz and Jaden Babiuk.
 
Ryan Reynolds tacked on an RBI single in the sixth inning for VCSU, scoring Riley Resnick for a 5-2 lead. The Blue Hawks got one back in the sixth inning, but Thompson and the Viking defense sealed the victory by allowing just one base runner over the final three innings.
 
The Vikings were limited to just six hits by five different players but made them count as four of those hits drove in runs.
 
Dickinson 5, VCSU 4
The teams traded scores throughout game two as they were tied 1-1, 2-2 and 3-3 before Dickinson State took the lead for good with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
 
Hunter Magnuson gave VCSU five quality innings on the mound, scattering three runs and four hits. He struck out four and walked three. Jace Hanson came on in relief and took the loss, giving up a hit and two runs in the sixth inning.
 
Dickinson State took a 1-0 lead before VCSU's Ryan Reynolds tied the game with an RBI groundout in the second inning. The Vikings took a lead in the third inning after Judson Seliskar was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The Blue Hawks responded with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to go up 3-2.
 
Jaden Babiuk singled home Reynolds in the sixth inning for VCSU, tying the game again at 3-3. Dickinson took the lead for good on Derrick Calvillo's two-run single in the sixth inning. The Vikings got one run back in the top of the seventh on a solo home run by Drew Nixon but could not push across the tying run.
 
Babiuk and Nixon both had two hits and an RBI to lead the Viking offense. Tory Nelson and Christian Ramirez each had a hit as well.