At Morris, Minnesota
MORRIS, MINN. (VCSU) – The Valley City State baseball team scored four runs in the fifth inning Thursday, breaking open a 2-2 game en route to a 6-3 win at the University of Minnesota-Morris.
Playing for the first time since March 25, the Vikings received strong pitching throughout the ranks and totaled 11 hits in the 9-inning game.
The top five batters in VCSU’s lineup combined to score five runs and go 9-for-20 with five walks. Austin Smith drew a bases-loaded walk to start the scoring in the top of the first inning, and then had a bases-loaded single to score two runs in the fifth. Jorun Hamre followed with an RBI groundout in the fifth inning, and Christian Peery capped the fifth-inning rally with an RBI single.
VCSU led 2-0 after Jacob Miller doubled and later scored on Emmanuel Levya’s RBI single in the fourth inning. The Cougars came back to tie the game with two runs in the bottom of the fourth before the Vikings took the lead for good with their fifth-inning rally. Morris plated one run in the bottom of the fifth, but VCSU’s Shaun Kourajian and Marcus Niemann each pitched two scoreless innings to close out the game.
Seven different pitchers took the mound for VCSU as the Vikings used the non-conference game as a pitching tune-up for this weekend’s four-game conference series against Bellevue University. Phillip Almanza, Jesse Johnson and Jacob Rosales all pitched a scoreless inning to start the game. Brady Engebretson pitched the fourth inning, giving up two hits and two runs, but got a big double play to work out of more trouble and would earn the win on the mound.
Nicholas Vargas pitched the fifth inning, allowing one run, and then Kourajian and Niemann closed out the game with four scoreless innings. The pair combined to allow just one hit over the final four innings as Niemann earned the save.
Leyva went 3-for-5 out of the leadoff spot and drove in a run. Grant Wehseler was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs, while Austin Smith was 2-for-4 with a team-high three RBIs. Aiden Brook totaled a pair of hits as well, and Christian Peery and Jacob Miller each had a hit.
Up next: Valley City State (8-11, 3-1 NSAA) hosts Bellevue University (19-13, 8-0 NSAA) for a four-game conference series this weekend in Valley City. Saturday’s doubleheader starts at 2 p.m. at Charlie Brown Field, while Sunday’s games start at noon.
