VALLEY CITY, N.D. (vcsuvikings.com) – Valley City State baseball swept the final edition of the North Star Athletic Association Baseball Players of the Week. Reed Butz was selected as the Pitcher of the Week and Jorun Hamre was chosen as the Player of the Week.

North Star Athletic Association Baseball Pitcher-of-the-Week
Reed Butz – Valley City State (N.D.) – 6’2″ – Junior – pitcher – Rockford, Ill. – Butz tossed eight shutout innings as Valley City State (N.D.) went 4-1 record for the week.  He pitched two shutout innings with two strikeouts, despite a 5-3 extra-innings setback at NCAA Division I North Dakota State.  He followed up with a victory over Presentation (S.D.) after pitching six scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts.  For the week, Butz limited its opponents to .148 batting average (4 hits allowed) and tallied 13 strikeouts.  He did not allow a run.

North Star Athletic Association Baseball Player-of-the-Week
Jorun Hamre – Valley City State (N.D.) – 6’4″ – Senior – first baseman – Leonard, N.D. – Hamre set a new single-season home record as Valley City State (N.D.) went 4-1 record for the week.  He blasted four home runs for the week, leading the North Star Athletic Association with 15 home runs this season.  Hamre recorded a batting average of .444 (8-of-18 at the plate) and scored eight times.  He slugged 1.167 (four home runs, three singles, and a double) and registered an on-base percentage of .500 for the week.

Recap from last week’s games
Bellevue (Neb.), receiving votes in the latest NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 national poll, wrapped up their regular-season by winning the North Star Athletic Association title after taking three games in the four-game series with Waldorf (Iowa).  The Bruins split with the Warriors on May 1, winning the first game 11-6 and falling in the second game 10-7.  BU swept WU 9-1 and 2-1 on May 2.  Bellevue, who split with Midland (Neb.) on April 27, is 34-14 overall record on the season and 15-5 NSAA conference record.  Waldorf, who fell to Clarke (Iowa) 12-2 on April 28, is 20-28 overall record and finished fourth place in the conference standings with 13-14 conference record.

Mayville State (N.D.) also won three times in the final North Star Athletic Association four-game series with Dickinson State (N.D.).  The Comets swept the Blue Hawks 6-4 and 6-5 on April 30.  DiSU won the first game 8-4 on May 1 before closing out the conference schedule with MSU winning the final game of the series 13-2.  Mayville State is 31-14 overall record and finished the NSAA schedule with 20-8 record.  Dickinson State, who lost to Jamestown (N.D.) 84- on April 28, is 13-23 overall record and finished fifth in the NSAA standings with 11-12 record.

Valley City State (N.D.) fell short at NCAA Division I North Dakota State 5-3 in 11 innings on April 27.  The Vikings returned home to earn a 4-game series sweep over Presentation (S.D.), winning 19-10 and 17-3 on May 1 and 5-4 and 10-0 on May 2.  VCSU is 21-24 overall record and finished third in the standings with 14-9 record.  Presentation split with Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 1-18 and 14-6 on April 26 and ended their season at 9-42 overall record and 4-23 NSAA record.

Viterbo (Wis.) took the final three games in the final NSAA four-game series at Dakota State (S.D.).  The Trojans won the first game 11-9 to secure a spot in the NSAA postseason tournament on April 10.  The V-Hawks won the second game 5-0.  VU swept DaSU 8-5 and 9-3 on May 1, despite ending their season at 17-25 overall record and 12-16 NSAA conference record.  Dakota State is 20-23 overall record and 13-15 record in the league (sixth place).

Looking Ahead
The brackets for the 2021 North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) Postseason Baseball Tournament are set.  Valley City State (N.D.) will be this year’s conference tournament host site for the fifth straight season, with the opening round starting on Friday, May 7.  The tournament runs through Monday, May 10 with the championship game scheduled for 11 a.m.

Top six seeds advance to the NSAA baseball postseason conference tournament, using the NAIA’s six-team double-elimination format.  The tournament is being held at Charlie Brown Stadium (203 12th Ave. NE) in northeast area of Valley City, N.D.

The tournament champion receives the NSAA’s automatic berth to the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round, which will be played on May 17-20 on campus sites announced by the NAIA national office.  The national tournament’s opening round winners move on to the Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series in Lewiston, Idaho on May 28-June 4.

All games are nine (9) innings with 10-run mercy rule after 7 innings.  There will be no 10-run rule in the championship game.

Friday’s Games
Game 1:  No. 6 seed Dakota State (S.D.) vs. No. 1 seed Bellevue (Neb.) – 11 a.m.
            Game 2:  No. 5 seed Dickinson State (N.D.) vs. No. 2 seed Mayville State (N.D.) – 2 p.m.
            Game 3:  No. 4 seed Waldorf (Iowa) vs. No. 3 seed Valley City State (N.D.) – 5:30 p.m.

Saturday’s Games
Game 4 (Loser’s Out Game):  Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 – 11 a.m.
            Game 5 (Elimination Game for Game 3 loser):  Winner Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3 – 2 p.m.
            Game 6 (Winner’s Bracket Game):  Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3 – 5:30 p.m.

            Sunday’s Games
Game 7 (Winner’s Bracket Game):  Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 – 11 a.m.
            Game 8 (Loser’s Out Game):  Loser Game 6 vs. Winner Game 4 – 2 p.m.
            Game 9 (Loser’s Out Game):  Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 – 5:30 p.m.

            If five teams remain after Game 6, and two after Game 9
            Game 7 (Loser’s Out Game):  Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6 – 11 a.m.
            Game 8 (Winner’s Bracket Game):  Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 4 – 2 p.m.
            Game 9 (Loser’s Out Game):  Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 6 – 5:30 p.m.

            If five teams remain after Game 6 and three after Game 9
            Game 9 (Loser’s Out Game):  Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 6 – 5:30 p.m.

Monday’s Game
Championship Game:   TBA – 11 a.m.
If necessary game – 2 p.m.
Winner advances to 2021 NAIA Baseball National Tournament Opening Round on May 17-20
2021 NSAA Baseball Conference Standings