VALLEY CITY – The Valley City State softball team expanded its win streak to 10 straight games with a sweep over Dakota State Friday afternoon at home.
 
VCSU defeated Dakota State 6-1 and 5-3 in Friday's doubleheader. Logan Gronberg went 5-for-6 at the plate Friday with a solo home run. She also picked up a pair of saves in the doubleheader while striking out four Trojans.
 
VCSU improves to 18-15 on the season and 10-3 in conference play. Dakota State drops to 5-18 overall and 2-8 in the North Star. The Vikings and Trojans complete the conference series Saturday at 1/3 p.m. The VCSU Softball team will recognize seniors Sierra Crocker, Joelle Lamontagne and Saige Forseth following Saturday's doubleheader.
 
VCSU 6, Dakota State 1
The Vikings opened the homestand with a 6-1 win over Dakota State with the help of a pair of solo home runs by Gronberg and Maerin Dartnell.
 
Dartnell opened scoring with a 2-run single in the second inning, scoring Alyssa DePoorter and Makenzee Stone. Dakota State trimmed the Viking lead in half in the top of the fourth with a Gabrielle Ortega-Alves RBI single to trail 2-1.
 
Then to open the bottom of the fourth, Gronberg took a big swing on the first pitch of the inning that soared over the centerfield fence to build a 3-1 lead. Dartnell later added a home run to lead off the fifth inning, also to centerfield. DePoorter and Skylar Spessard each drove in a run in the bottom of the sixth to round out VCSU's 6-1 win.
 
Gronberg and Dartnell each finished with two hits in the game. DePoorter added a double, while Makenzee Stone, Ashlyn Diemert, and Saige Forseth each added a hit. Dartnell drove in a team-best three runs for VCSU.
 
Joelle Lamontagne got the win after starting in the circle and working 5 innings while allowing one run on five hits. She did not walk a single batter and struck out four. Gronberg picked up a save after tossing 2 innings in relief. She did not allow a hit, walked two and struck out one.
 
Dakota State's Delaney Barrett got the loss after tossing 5 innings and allowing four runs on five hits while striking out three. Mason Usselman pitched one inning in relief and allowed two runs on three hits. Dakota State's pitchers did not walk a single batter in the game. Hannah McFarland paced the Trojans with two hits, including a double, Friday.
 
VCSU 5, Dakota State 3
The Vikings and Trojans then erupted for a combined 25 hits in the second game of the day as VCSU came out on top of the 5-3 battle.
 
Dakota State opened the game with a single run in the first inning on Michelle Evdos' RBI single to right field. The Vikings answered with a first-inning rally of their own, opening with a leadoff walk by Ashlyn Diemert who later scored all the way from first on Kennadi Stone's double to deep center field. Sierra Crocker then drove in Stone with a single, followed by base hits from Saige Forseth and Logan Gronberg to load the bases. Maddy Zander drove in Crocker as she grounded into a double play for the first outs of the inning. Makenzee Stone then drove in Forseth with a base hit to right field, and DePoorter struck out swinging to end the rally.
 
Dakota State's Olivia Peterson scored in the top of the fourth inning on Hannah Feser's single to center field to cut the Viking lead to 4-2. The Vikings added some separation in the bottom half of the inning after Kennadi Stone's RBI single to left field, scoring Dartnell to lead 5-2.
 
The Trojans threatened in the top of the sixth inning after Peterson's leadoff triple. Feser then drove her in with an RBI single to right field. Ally Morrissey reached on a bunt, and McFarland loaded the bases with a single to center. Mackenzie Sims then hit a ground ball to third base, and DePoorter got the force out at home to hold off Trojan scoring. Ellie Braaten then made a crucial double play on Rosie Philop's hard grounder to second base, tagging out Sims and making the throw to first in time for final out of the inning.
 
The Trojans threatened again in the seventh inning with runners on first and second and no outs, but Gronberg struck out three straight batters to finish the game.
 
Maddy Zander got her 10^th win of the season after working 5 innings Friday. She allowed three runs on nine hits, walked two and struck out five. Gronberg earned her fifth save of the season after tossing 2 innings in relief. She allowed four hits, struck out three and did not walk a single batter.
 
Gronberg was also 3-for-3 at the plate for VCSU. Kennadi Stone and Maerin Dartnell each added two hits, including a double apiece. Kennadi Stone drove in two runs while Crocker and Makenzee Stone each drove in one.
 
Maycee Bricker pitched all 6 innings for Dakota State and allowed five runs on 12 hits while walking one and striking out one. McFarland, Feser and Morrissey each finished with two hits Friday while Evdos doubled and Peterson tripled. Peterson scored two runs while Feser drove in two.