BASEBALL: Vikings defeat Dickinson in opening round
DICKINSON, N.D. – Valley City State University built an early 7-2 lead and held on in the late innings Friday as they advanced through the opening round of the NSAA Baseball Tournament with a 7-6 victory.
The No. 3-seeded Vikings built a 7-2 lead after three innings against No. 6 Dickinson State, but a 70-minute rain delay and the relief pitching of Trent Richter stifled their offense over the final six innings. Dickinson State battled back to within 7-6 and had the tying run on base, but VCSU pitcher Takao Cookson induced a groundout to finish off a stellar relief performance and seal the victory.
Valley City State (20-31) moves into the winner's bracket and will play No. 7 seed Mayville State on Saturday at 12 p.m. MT. Mayville upset No. 2 Dakota State, 4-3 in the first game Friday.
Dickinson State (13-34) drops into a loser-out game and will face Dakota State on Saturday at 9 a.m. MT.
Cookson pitched the final four innings and earned a save for VCSU after entering with a 7-5 lead in the sixth inning. He gave up just two hits and one run while striking out 8 in relief. Hunter Magnuson picked up the win for VCSU after working the first five innings.
Dickinson State's Trent Richter was dominant in relief. He entered in the third inning with VCSU leading 7-2 and proceeded to shut out the Vikings the rest of the way. Richter gave up just one hit, did not walk a batter and struck out eight. Jonathan Lerma took the loss after giving up eight hits and seven runs over 2.2 innings.
The Vikings opened up a 7-2 lead after three innings of play, scoring in the first three innings against Lerma. Cam Pero's solo home run in the second inning gave VCSU a 3-1 lead. Dickinson's Wyatt Wilharm answered with a solo home run in the top of the third inning to trim the Viking lead to 3-2.
Valley City State took their big lead with a 2-run third inning, which included a 2-run home run from Dustin Mertz and a 2-run double by Pero. That gave the Vikings a 7-2 lead before the game went into a 70-minute rain delay in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Both pitchers –Richter and VCSU starter Hunter Magnuson – came back out after the delay.
The Blue Hawk bats heated up in their first at bat after the delay, putting up three runs in the top of the fifth. Mathias Dufner delivered an RBI triple, and Clay Prell had a pinch-hit RBI single that trimmed VCSU's lead to 7-5.
The Vikings turned to Cookson – the NSAA Freshman of the Year – on the mound in the sixth inning. He put up zeroes in both the sixth and seventh innings, but Dickinson's Jace Buchanan broke through with an RBI double in the eighth inning that cut the Blue Hawk deficit to just one run at 7-6. Dickinson had the tying run on base in the ninth before Cookson finished off the Viking victory.
The Vikings totaled nine hits in the win while Dickinson had eight hits.
Cam Pero led the VCSU offense with a double, a home run and three RBIs. Tory Nelson had two hits, including a double, and Cody Wielgosh was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Mertz went 1-for-4 with a 2-run home run. It was the 30
th home run of his Mertz's career, which ranks him 4
th in VCSU history.
Wyatt Wilharm led the Blue Hawks with a 2-for-5 game at the plate, hitting a double and a home run. Jace Buchanan and Clay Prell each had a hit and an RBI.