{"id":280419,"date":"2024-03-05T08:57:14","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T14:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=280419"},"modified":"2024-03-05T08:57:15","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T14:57:15","slug":"marx-scruggs-lift-vcsu-vikings-past-cougars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=280419","title":{"rendered":"Marx & Scruggs Lift VCSU Vikings Past Cougars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

AUBURNDALE, FLA \u2013\u00a0Jacob Marx<\/a><\/dfn>\u00a0gave the Vikings six strong innings on the mound and\u00a0Kellen Scruggs<\/a><\/dfn>\u00a0hit his third home run of the spring as Viking Baseball split a pair of games Monday in Florida.
\u00a0
Marx and Scruggs led the Vikings to a 5-2 win over Mount Vernon Nazarene in Monday’s opener. In the nightcap, VCSU dropped a 10-1 game to Concordia University (Neb.) \u2013 a team that is receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 Poll.\u00a0
\u00a0
VCSU moves its record to 7-8 overall and is now 3-2 on its spring trip to Florida. The Vikings have Tuesday off before resuming games on Wednesday. Valley City State will play six games in the next four days to wrap up the trip.
\u00a0
VCSU 5, Mount Vernon Nazarene 2<\/strong>
Jacob Marx<\/a><\/dfn>\u00a0started on the mound and gave up just four hits and two runs over his six innings of work. He walked two and struck out five. After a walk to start the seventh inning,\u00a0Takao Cookson<\/a><\/dfn>\u00a0took over and eventually worked out of a bases-loaded jam, getting a fly out and strikeout to seal the victory earn a save.
\u00a0
Scruggs started the scoring with an RBI double in the top of the first inning, plating\u00a0Jaden Babiuk<\/a><\/dfn>\u00a0who had reached with a two-out single. After MVNU tied the game in the second inning, the Vikings took the lead for good with a three-run third inning.\u00a0Dustin Mertz<\/a><\/dfn>\u00a0and Babiuk started the rally with a pair of singles, and both eventually scored on a grounder by\u00a0Cam Pero<\/a><\/dfn>.\u00a0Hunter Logan<\/a><\/dfn>\u00a0capped the inning with a sacrifice fly to give VCSU a 4-1 lead.
\u00a0
The Vikings tacked on an insurance run in the fifth inning as Scruggs led off with a solo home run to center field \u2013 his third home run this season.\u00a0VCSU finished with eight hits and one error. MVNU tallied five hits and one error as well.
\u00a0
Scruggs finished 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs. Babiuk went 2-for-4 at the plate and scored a pair of runs. Mertz,\u00a0Cam Pero<\/a><\/dfn>,\u00a0Judson Seliskar<\/a><\/dfn>\u00a0and\u00a0Jamel Chabot<\/a><\/dfn>\u00a0all had a hit for VCSU.
\u00a0
Concordia 10, VCSU 1<\/strong>
Game two of the split doubleheader was scoreless through three innings before Concordia took control with one run in the fourth and then a six-run fifth inning to break things wide open.
\u00a0
VCSU managed just five hits in the loss, getting a double from\u00a0Jamel Chabot<\/a><\/dfn>\u00a0and singles by\u00a0Hunter Logan<\/a><\/dfn>,\u00a0Anthony Madsen<\/a><\/dfn>,\u00a0Cam Pero<\/a><\/dfn>\u00a0and\u00a0Kellen Scruggs<\/a><\/dfn>.
\u00a0
Jacob Hendrickson<\/a><\/dfn>\u00a0started and took the loss for VCSU, pitching four innings. He allowed two hits and three runs, walked two and struck out five.\u00a0Eli Chabot<\/a><\/dfn>,\u00a0Garrett Dykstra<\/a><\/dfn>\u00a0and Bendan Berk all pitched in relief. Dyksta worked 2 2\/3 innings, allowing two hits and three runs \u2013 none of which were earned \u2013 while striking out four.
\u00a0
VCSU committed three errors in the loss. Concordia scored its 10 runs on just seven hits but took advantage of VCSU’s three errors along with five walks and two hit batters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AUBURNDALE, FLA \u2013\u00a0Jacob Marx\u00a0gave the Vikings six strong innings on the mound and\u00a0Kellen Scruggs\u00a0hit his third home run of the spring as Viking Baseball split a pair of games Monday in Florida.\u00a0Marx and Scruggs led the Vikings to a 5-2 win over Mount Vernon Nazarene in Monday’s opener. In the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-280419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=280419"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":280420,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280419\/revisions\/280420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=280419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=280419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=280419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}