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CITY, N.D. (VCSUVikings.com) – Valley City State won a pair of one-run games Friday as the Viking baseball team swept a conference doubleheader from Presentation College, 3-2 and 7-6.
Viking senior Brady Anderson delivered a walk-off single in the 12th inning of game one, scoring Tyler Ukestad for a 3-2 victory. In game two, the Vikings rallied from an early 4-1 deficit and then hung on down the stretch for a 7-6 victory and the doubleheader sweep.
Valley City State improves to 17-20 overall and is now 11-3 in the North Star Athletic Association. The Vikings are 11-1 over their last 12 conference games and are tied with University of Jamestown for third in the NSAA standings. Presentation College drops to 10-28 overall and 2-12 in conference play. The Saints are tied with Winnipeg for eighth in the standings.
VCSU’s Brady Anderson collected five hits on the day and now has 199 career hits, which ties the school record held by Tyler Schlecht (1986-89).
Up next: VCSU hosts Presentation College for two more games on Saturday. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 12 p.m. at Charlie Brown Memorial Baseball Field.
VCSU 3, Presentation College 2 (12 innings)
Presentation College scored single runs in the third and fourth innings to take an early 2-0 lead in the scheduled nine-inning game. Josh Youngchild’s RBI single started the scoring in the third and the Saints tacked on another run in fourth.
The Vikings got one run back in the bottom of the fourth on Nate Bagby’s RBI single, and then tied the game in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI double from Tyler Ukestad.
From there, both teams put up zeros until the Vikings came to bat in the bottom of the 12th inning. Ukestad opened the inning with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and then went to third on an RBI groundout. With two outs Brady Anderson lined one just fair down the left-field line, scoring Ukestad and setting off a walk-off celebration.
Ukestad went 3-for-4 with a run and RBI to lead the Viking offense, which finished with 11 hits. Anderson, Bagby and Grant Wehseler each had two hits.
Viking starting pitcher Jacob VanVacter went 10 strong innings in a no-decision. He allowed eight hits and two runs, did not walk a batter and struck out five. Max Koprek earned the win after pitching two scoreless innings in relief, allowing only one hit. Koprek faced the minimum six batters, getting help from a groundout double play in the top of the 12th.
KC Proctor took the loss for the Saints after coming on in the 11th inning. James Lewis started and went seven innings, giving up eight hits and two runs. Ryan Barker and Alex Lunneborg combined for three scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
Lane Hovde and Kyle Angielski both went 3-for-5 to lead the Saints offense, which collected nine total hits. Each team committed just one error.
VCSU 7, Presentation College 6
Trailing 4-2, the Vikings erupted for five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 7-2 lead. Tyler Ukestad and Jared Meiklejohn opened the inning with back-to-back singles, and Brady Anderson later delivered the big blow with a two-run triple.
The Saints rallied back with two runs in the top of the fifth, getting a two-run double off the bat of Jace Wyatt. From there Viking reliever Andrew Hirsch shut the door, allowing just one hit over the final 2 2/3 innings.
Hirsch earned a three-inning save after coming on with two runners on in the fifth inning. He allowed just two hits, no runs and struck out two. Andrew Frank picked up the win after pitching the first four innings. Frank allowed six hits and six runs, walking three and striking out three.
Anderson followed up his game one walk-off with a big game at the plate in game two, collecting a double and a triple as he went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. Nate Bagby was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, and Tyler Ukestad went 2-for-3 at the plate. After going 5-for-7 on the day, Ukestad is now batting a ridiculous .629 over his last 10 games and is hitting .600 in conference play.
VCSU finished with seven runs on 10 hits while the Saints had six runs on eight hits. Both teams committed one error.
Jace Wyatt drove in three runs for the Saints, and Josh Youngchild went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs. Saints’ starter Jake Bunjovac went 5 1/3 innings in the loss, allowing 10 hits and seven runs – five of which were earned.