BASEBALL: Warriors edge V-Hawks in back-and-forth battle
DICKINSON, N.D. – Waldorf University advanced into the winner’s bracket with a one-run victory Friday at the NSAA Baseball Tournament.
The Warriors picked up a 9-8 win against Viterbo University during a back-and-forth matchup between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds in the tournament.
Viterbo held leads of 2-1, 5-4 and 8-5, but each time Waldorf battled back. The final rally came in the top of the eighth inning as the Warriors took advantage of two V-Hawk errors en route to four runs and a 9-8 lead. Waldorf pitcher Trevor Brace and Reno Morehouse proceeded to shut the V-Hawks down in the eighth and ninth innings to preserve the 9-8 victory for the No. 5-seeded Warriors.
Waldorf University (20-26) moves into the winner’s bracket and will play top seed Bellevue University on Saturday at 4 p.m. MT. Bellevue had a bye in the opening round Friday.
Viterbo University (11-37) drops into a loser-out game and will face the loser of VCSU/Mayville State on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Vikings and Comets play a winner’s bracket game at 12 p.m. Saturday.
Ryan Meyer started on the mound for Waldorf and went 6 2/3 innings, scattering 10 hits and eight runs. Trevor Brace picked up the win after pitching 1.1 perfect innings out of the bullpen. Reno Morehouse collected the save with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Cale Beckman started on the mound for Viterbo and went four innings, scattering five hits and four runs. Jake Ouweneel pitched three innings out of the pen, allowing one hit and three runs – only one of which was earned. Kyle Burns took the loss after coming on in relief in the eighth inning.
Waldorf scored its nine runs on nine hits, while Viterbo had eight runs on 10 hits. Both teams committed three errors.
Rylee Rauch went 2-for-4 with a triple, two runs and two RBIs for Waldorf. Both Kolby Amaral and Zach Meyer added two hits and two runs scored.
Spencer Hans led the V-Hawk offense with a 2-for-5 game at the plate, scoring twice and driving in three. Kyle Sontag added two hits and two RBIs, and Gavin Daniel was 2-for-5 with two runs scored.