SIOUX CENTER, IOWA – The Valley City State University softball team picked up a pair of wins at the ASB Sports Complex Classic on Friday, Feb. 20. The Vikings started the day with a 3-2 win over Morningside University and finished the afternoon with a 4-2 win over Briar Cliff University.

The Vikings are now 6-4 overall to start the season. VCSU handed Morningside its first loss of the 2026 season, making them now 3-1. Briar Cliff is now 3-6 after their loss to the Vikings.

VCSU took down Morningside University 3-2 in game one. With the first pitch at noon, Maddy Hazelton started her complete game with a strikeout. Last week's Frontier Conference pitcher of the week found herself in unusual territory after a pair of walks and a passed ball advanced runners to second and third. With one out, Hazelton then led Morningside's four and five hitters into a strikeout and groundout, escaping the inning.

The Vikings found their rhythm later in the second inning when Kennadi Stone reached on a walk, stole second, and moved to third on a throwing error. Ahleeya Nicola reached on a fielder's choice that brought home Stone, giving the Vikings a 1-0 lead.

Morningside would later answer with two runs in the fourth. They scored two on a single with base runners on second and third, taking a 2-1 lead. VCSU quickly responded in the bottom half as Stone singled and later scored on R Mieras' RBI base hit to even the score at 2-2.

The decisive moment came in the sixth. J. Decker singled to center and swiped second before K. MacNeill followed with a single. With pressure mounting, MacNeill stole second, and Decker raced home on the double steal to give the Vikings a 3-2 lead. From there, VCSU's defense shut the door. Morningside put the tying run on base in both the sixth and seventh innings, but the Vikings stranded runners each time, sealing a hard-fought win.

Vikings Maddy Hazelton pitched a complete game, earning the win while throwing four strikeouts. Reagan Mieras was 1-for-2, with one RBI. Kennadi Stone went 1-for-2 and scored two Runs

Later in the 4:00 p.m. game, the Vikings defeated Briar Cliff for the second time this season, this time with a score of 4-2. Valley City State set the tone early, jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a solo home run from Jenna Decker.  Briar Cliff was held hitless with three strikeouts in the first inning delivered by Grace Folkema. The Chargers then tied the game in the second on an unearned run and added a sacrifice fly in the third to go up 2-1.

The Vikings' breakthrough came in the fifth inning. Reagan Mieras delivered an RBI single to tie the game, and A. Nicola followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Vikings a 3-2 advantage. VCSU added an insurance run in the sixth when Decker came through again, on an RBI double to score P. Kihn and extend the lead to 4-2. Despite Briar Cliff loading the bases in the seventh, VCSU recorded the final strikeout to close out a 4-2 victory.

VCSU's Cooper Klaahsen was awarded the win, moving to 1-1 on the season after pitching 4.2 innings with five strikeouts, yielding only one hit. Jenna Decker went 2-for-3, with a home run and two RBIs. Reagan Mieras was 2-for-4, with one RBI. Pascale Kihn was 2-for-4, with one run.

UP NEXT: The Vikings are set to take on Doane and Northwestern on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.