BASEBALL: Vikings stay in winner's bracket with 2-1 win
DICKINSON, N.D. – Christopher Dietrich and Takao Cookson combined to allow just one run Saturday afternoon as Valley City State University advanced with a 2-1 victory in the winner's bracket Saturday at the NSAA Baseball Tournament.
Dietrich pitched 5.1 shutout innings and Cookson took it the rest of the way as the No. 3-seeded Vikings narrowly defeated No. 7 seed Mayville State, 2-1.
Valley City State (21-31) is now 2-0 in the tournament. The Vikings will play at 2:30 p.m. MT Sunday against the winner of Bellevue/Waldorf, who play Saturday night.
Mayville State (13-38) drops into a loser-out game and will play again Saturday night against Viterbo University at 7 p.m. MT.
Trailing 2-1 and down to its final out in the bottom of the ninth, Mayville State put runners on first and third against Cookson. The NSAA Freshman of the Year finished off the game for his fourth save of the season, inducing a foul pop-out down the third-base line.
VCSU's Tory Nelson laced the first pitch of the game into the left-center gap for a leadoff double. He moved to third on a flyout and then scored on a wild pitch to give the Vikings an early 1-0 lead.
The Comets threatened in the sixth inning, loading the bases against Dietrich. The Vikings turned to Cookson who induced an inning-ending double play to kill the threat.
VCSU then extended the lead to 2-0 as freshman catcher Jamel Chabot hit a solo home run that just cleared the left-field fence in the seventh inning.
Mayville State finally broke through against the Viking pitchers in the eighth inning with a solo home run by Chris Shopbell, but that's all the Comets could get.
Dietrich earned the win for VCSU, pitching 5.1 shutout innings and striking out 10 batters. Cookson pitched the final 3.2 innings for the save, allowing just two hits and a run.
Derek Palmiere started for Mayville and gave the Comets six good innings, allowing just five hits and a run while striking out six.
VCSU finished with six hits, including a pair of singles by Kaden Rozdeba. Chabot went 2-for-3 with his solo home run.
Mayville State totaled eight hits, including a 3-for-5 game by Marcus Hughes. Chris Shopbell was 1-for-4 with a solo home run.