Auburndale, FLA. – The Valley City State baseball team lost a lead in the late innings Wednesday as the Vikings dropped a 10-5 contest to IU South Bend.
 
Valley City State held a 5-3 lead after six innings, but IU South Bend rallied to score seven runs in the last three innings en route to the victory. VCSU drops to 7-9 overall and is now 3-3 on its trip to Florida. IU South Bend improves its record to 8-7 overall.
 
VCSU finished with seven hits and committed four errors in the loss. South Bend had 13 hits and committed only one error.
 
Kaden Rozdeba and Jamel Chabot each had a pair of hits to lead the Viking offense. Rozdeba went 2-for-5 with a double, two runs and an RBI. Chabot was 2-for-3 with a double.
 
Tory Nelson, Hunter Logan and Dustin Mertz all had a hit and an RBI.
 
Takao Cookson started on the mound and worked 3 1/1 innings for VCSU, scattering four hits and three runs – two of which were earned. He walked one and struck out four.
 
Jay Mendez pitched the next 3 1/3 innings, keeping South Bend’s offense quiet until the seventh inning. South Bend broke through by scoring four runs in that inning to take a 7-5 lead. Riley Resnick and Brendan Berk each pitched in relief as well.
 
Up next: Valley City State continues its trip to Florida with two more games on Thursday. The Vikings face Morningside University at 11:45 a.m. CT, and then play Cornerstone University at 2:45. Both are scheduled to be 7-inning games.