Valley City, N.D. – In a crucial series in terms of the Frontier Conference standings and seeding for the upcoming conference tournament. Valley City State and Dickinson State split the first two games of the four-game series. The Blue Hawks took the first game 4-3 while the Vikings claimed game two 9-5.
Valley City State is 10-12-1 in the conference and 23-21-1 overall. Dickinson State is 10-12 in the conference and 24-21 overall.
GAME 1: Dickinson State 4, Valley City State 3
The Blue Hawks got on the board in the top of the first inning on Moses Dokes RBI single, scoring Luis Rodriguez who led off the game with a double.
They added three more runs in the top of the third to take a four-run lead. Jaydn Roberts led off with a solo home run to make it 2-0 Blue Hawks. Dokes added an RBI single three batters later to make it 3-0. Jaden Salazar capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0.
Valley City State got two runs back in the bottom of the fifth on
Alexis Velasco's two-run double, cutting the lead in half at 4-2.
Connor Hoyt led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run to make it 4-3. But Blue Hawk reliever Trent Chavez retired the next three hitters to end the game.
Hoyt was 2 for 4 with two runs scored, a home run, and an RBI. Velasco was 1 for 3 with a double and two RBI. Nick Senn,
Brady Papineau, and
Evan Gonzalez were all 1 for 3.
Cody Wielgosh was 1 for 4.
Takao Cookson took the loss for the Vikings. He allowed eight hits and three earned runs in six innings. He walked one and fanned seven. He ended the gamer strong, retiring eleven of the last 13 batters he faced.
GAME 2: Valley City 9, Dickinson State 5
In game two, the Vikings received a strong outing from Sophomore
Grady Shipman on the mound, and they flexed their collective muscles with five extra base hits to earn the win.
After a scoreless first two innings, Dickinson State scored three times in the top of the third inning. Jaydn Roberts hit his second home run of the day, a solo shot over the left field fence, to give the Blue Hawks a 1-0. Two batters later, Moses Dokes hit a two-run shot over the left field fence to make it 3-0 Dickinson State.
The Vikings came back to take the lead in the bottom of the third.
Cody Wielgosh tripled, scoring
Connor Hoyt to make it 3-1.
Alexis Velasco brought in Wielgosh with a single to make it 3-2. With two runners in scoring position,
Brady Papineau hustled out a double, scoring
Diesel Goya and Velasco to give the Vikings a 4-3 lead.
VSCU added a run in the bottom of the fourth on a double by Velasco, scoring Devin Minney who walked to start the inning.
Velasco continued his hot hitting with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 6-3 VCSU. With runners at second and third and two out,
Evan Gonzalez singled, scoring
Hunter Logan and
Diesel Goya to make it 8-3.
A solo home run by Nick Senn in the bottom of the eighth made it 9-3 VCSU.
In the ninth, Luis Rodriguez hit a lead off home run to make it 9-4. Then with two out, Wyatt Wilharm homered to left field to make it 9-5. But that was as close as the Blue Hawks would get.
Alexis Velasco led the offense by going 3 for 5 with a double, a home run, two runs scored, and three RBI.
Cody Wielgosh was 2 for 5 with a triple, a run, and an RBI. Nick Senn was 2 for 4 with a home run.
Connor Hoyt was 2 for 5 with a run scored.
Brady Papineau was 1 for 5 with two RBI.
Evan Gonzalez was 1 for 2 with two RBI.
Devon Minney was 1 for 2 with a run scored.
Shipman tossed 6.2 innings and allowed six hits, three runs, with two walks and nine strikeouts to earn the win.
UP NEXT: The two teams will wrap up the series and the regular season on Saturday with a doubleheader. First pitch for game one is at noon. Following the second game, the Vikings will be recognizing their nine seniors.
