MITCHELL, S.D. – The Valley City State baseball team swept a conference doubleheader Wednesday, defeating Viterbo University 5-4 and 12-8 during a pair of games in Mitchell, S.D.
 
VCSU hit a pair of home runs in each game, and Connor Nelson earned both a save (game one) and a win (game two) on the mound.
 
Valley City State improves to 10-17 overall and 2-4 in conference play. Viterbo drops to 4-26 overall and 3-3 in the North Star Athletic Association.
 
The 4-game series was originally scheduled to be in Valley City, but the games are being played in Mitchell due to cold weather and precipitation forecast in both Valley City and La Crosse, Wis., this week.
 
Up next: The 4-game series concludes Thursday with another doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
 
VCSU 5, Viterbo 4
Hunter Magnuson started on the mound and worked into the seventh inning, giving the Vikings a strong start. After walking the first two batters of the game and allowing a first-inning run, Magnuson settled in and limited Viterbo’s offense.
 
Trailing 1-0, Dustin Mertz put the Vikings on top with a 2-run home run in the bottom of the third inning. Mertz added an RBI single in the fifth as VCSU went ahead 4-1. Viterbo’s Kyle Sontag and VCSU’s Kaden Rozdeba each hit solo home runs in the sixth inning as VCSU entered the seventh with a 5-2 lead.
 
Ryan Mesa walked and then Blake Warner doubled to start the seventh inning and chase Magnuson. Connor Nelson came on in relief and gave up a 2-run double to Spencer Hans that allowed Mesa and Warner to score, but then Nelson settled in and recorded a pair of strikeouts to close out the victory.
 
Both teams managed six hits in the game. Mertz was 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs to lead VCSU. Rozdeba was 1-for-3 with his solo home run.
 
Brett Steussel had a pair of hits for Viterbo, while Sontag and Spencer Hans each drove in a pair of runs.
 
Magnuson picked up his third win of the season, finishing with a line of six innings, four hits, four runs, six walks and nine strikeouts. Nelson earned the save and went one inning, allowing two hits and no runs while striking out two.
 
Anthony Sanchez took the loss for Viterbo. Sanchez started and pitched five innings, giving up four hits and five runs. He walked only one and struck out six.
 
VCSU 12, Viterbo 8
Valley City State put up 12 runs and 12 hits in game two, taking an early 10-1 lead and holding off Viterbo in the late innings.
 
The Vikings struck first with a 3-run double by Kellen Scruggs in the bottom of the first inning. The Vikings added one run in the second, four runs in the third and two more runs in the fourth to take a 10-1 lead.
 
Viterbo cut the deficit to four runs but could get no closer.
 
Scruggs finished 3-for-3 at the plate with a pair of doubles, two walks and six RBIs. Freshman Cody Wielgosh was 2-for-5 with his first collegiate home run – a 2-run blast. Kaden Rozdeba also hit a 2-run home run, finishing 1-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBIs.
 
Takao Cookson gave the Vikings a strong start on the mound through four innings. He ran into trouble in the fifth, walking four batters in the inning before being lifted. Cookson finished the game going 4 1/3 innings, allowing four hits and three runs. He walked four and struck out six. Jarrett Faue and Eli Chabot both pitched partial innings in relief.
 
Nelson entered into a bases-loaded situation in the top of the sixth and proceeded to work out of the jam with a strikeout and groundout. He finished off the game, pitching the final 3 2/3 innings, scattering five hits and two runs while striking out four.
 
Viterbo used six pitchers in the loss. Brett Steussel started on the mound and took the loss after giving up four runs in the early going.
 
Blake Warner had a monster game at the plate for Viterbo, finishing 5-for-6 with three runs, two home runs and four RBIs. Gavin Daniel also drove in two runs for the V-Hawks.