MAYVILLE, N.D. –
Zach Veneman and
Ryan Reynolds combined for four home runs and nine RBIs as the Valley City State baseball team won a slugfest on Sunday at Mayville State.
Veneman and Reynolds each homered twice – including a grand slam by Veneman – in VCSU's 15-14 win over the Comets. Reynolds' second home run was a solo shot that tied the game at 14-14 in the top of the ninth.
Kaden Rozdeba followed with a single, and then pinch-runner
Christian Ramirez eventually scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch.
Brooks Brown pitched two scoreless innings in relief, allowing Valley City State to rally for the 15-14 victory. In game two, Mayville State pitched a shutout in a 4-0 win over the Vikings.
With the Sunday split, Valley City State finished its four-game series at Mayville State with a 1-3 record. The Comets won 18-6 and 4-3 on Friday. Veneman and Reynolds each hit four home runs during the series. As a team, the Vikings have now hit 64 home runs this season which is the second most in program history.
Valley City State ends the regular season with a 12-32 overall record and an 8-20 mark in conference play. The Vikings are the No. 7 seed for the NSAA Tournament in Dickinson, May 5-8. The Vikings play No. 2 seed Dakota State in the opening round Friday.
VCSU 15, Mayville State 14
The Vikings pounded out 17 hits – including five home runs – in Sunday's opening game.
Veneman's third-inning grand slam gave the Vikings an early 6-3 lead. The Vikings extended their lead to 9-4 after Veneman and Reynolds hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the fifth inning. The Comets rallied to within 9-8 after putting up three runs in the sixth inning.
Valley City State extended the lead back out to 13-8, getting a solo home run from
Dustin Mertz and RBI singles by
Tory Nelson and
Jaden Babiuk during a four-run seventh inning. Mayville State had the answer as the Comets put up six runs in the bottom of the seventh and took a 14-13 lead. Neither team would score in the eighth, setting up VCSU's game-winning rally in the ninth.
Reynolds opened the ninth with a solo home run to quickly tie the game at 14-14.
Kaden Rozdeba followed with a single and then was lifted for pinch-runner
Christian Ramirez. Ramirez advanced to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a single by
Tory Nelson and then eventually scored on another wild pitch.
In the bottom of the ninth,
Brooks Brown struck out the first two batters but walked the next two hitters as the tying run moved to second base. Brown was able to finish off the win though, getting an infield popup to end the game.
Brown pitched two scoreless innings in relief to earn the win. He did not allow a hit, walked two and struck out two.
Daniel Alvarado started on the mound and went four innings, allowing eight hits and five runs.
Devon Cook,
Riley Resnick and
Landon Piehl all pitched in the relief before Brown finished the game.
Veneman had a monster game at the plate, finishing 3-for-5 with three runs, six RBIs and the two home runs. Reynolds was 3-for-4 with three runs, three RBIs, a double, and two home runs, and Rozdeba also had a three-hit game and an RBI. Babiuk, Mertz and Nelson all had two hits and an RBI.
VCSU scored its 15 runs on 17 hits. Mayville State finished with 15 hits, and both teams committed three errors. The game took 3 hours and 50 minutes to complete.
Mayville State 4, VCSU 0
Game two was a pitcher's duel as VCSU's
Hunter Magnuson and Mayville's Derek Palmiere had the teams locked in a 1-0 game through the fifth inning.
The Comets took advantage of a Viking error in the sixth inning, extending the at bat as they scored three more runs en route to the 4-0 victory.
Magnuson went 4 2/3 innings for the Vikings, scattering five hits and giving up just one run. He walked three and struck out five.
Adam Thompson pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief, giving up three hits and two earned runs.
Palmiere finished with 5 1/3 no-hit innings for the Comets. Jack Patten pitched the final 1 2/3 innings for the save as the pair had a combined shutout and no-hitter.
