SIOUX CENTER, IOWA – The Valley City State softball team split its Saturday games at the Dordt University Dome including an 8-0 win in 5 innings over Briar Cliff.
 
The Vikings also fell to No. 15 Northwestern Saturday after the Raiders broke a 2-2 tie with three runs in the fifth inning to take the 5-2 win. Maddy Zander, Alyssa DePoorter and Logan Gronberg all homered to highlight the Saturday split.
 
VCSU finished the weekend with a 3-1 record and is now 5-6 overall. The Vikings will have a break until its spring break trip to the Tucson Invitational Games March 2-7.
 
#15 Northwestern 5, VCSU 2
VCSU fell to the nationally-ranked Red Raiders Saturday morning by final score of 5-2.
 
Trailing 2-1 after the first inning, VCSU's Alyssa DePoorter tied the game in the top of the second with a solo home run to centerfield. The teams remained deadlocked until the fifth inning when Northwestern brought three runs around, including two unearned, to lead 5-2.
 
VCSU's Sierra Crocker singled in the sixth and Andrea Rodriguez drew a walk in the seventh, but the Vikings couldn't find a way to score in the final two innings.
 
Crocker recorded two hits in the game while Zander and DePoorter each drove in a run for the Vikings. Joelle Lamontagne got the loss after pitching 4 innings. She allowed four runs, only two of them earned, and walked one batter. Gronberg pitched 2 innings in relief and allowed one run on two hits and struck out one.
 
VCSU 8, Briar Cliff 0 (5 innings)
VCSU then shut out Briar Cliff as Zander allowed just one hit and totaled six strikeouts in an 8-0 victory decided by mercy rule.
 
Saige Forseth delivered the game-winning single that scored Rodriguez and Makenzee Stone to finish the game in 5 innings.
 
Gronberg and Zander each doubled and homered in the game to deliver five runs for the Vikings by the end of the third. Crocker also contributed to the win with an RBI single in the fourth inning.
 
Zander, Forseth, Gronberg and Maerin Dartnell each finished with two hits in the win. Zander drove in three runs while Gronberg scored two and drove in two.