MORRIS, MINN. (vcsuvikings.com) – The Valley City State baseball team finished out the regular season in style on Wednesday, hitting six home runs in a dominant 18-3 win at Minnesota-Morris.
The Vikings scored in each of the first five innings – taking a 14-2 lead – and ended the game by run rule after seven innings. VCSU finished with 17 hits in the game, and six pitchers combined to keep the Morris offense in check .
Valley City State ends the regular season with a 22-24 overall record and have won their last five games. The Vikings are the No. 3 seed for the NSAA Tournament starting Friday in Valley City. VCSU’s first round game is against No. 4 seed Waldorf University at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
VCSU’s record-breaking offense hit six more home runs Wednesday, giving the team 73 home runs during the regular season. That shatters the previous school record of 56 set back in 1988. After Wednesday’s slugfest the Vikings are averaging 1.62 home runs per game, which leads the North Star and is 14th in the entire NAIA.
Ten different Vikings collected hits, and all six home runs came from different players. Ryan Reynolds went 4-for-5 with two runs, three RBIs and a home run. David Demeter hit a three-run home run – his 12th of the season – and finished 2-for-2 with three runs and four RBIs. Jorun Hamre extended his individual school record with his 16th home run of the season. He also drove in three runs.
Gage Gellner, Drew Nixon and Adam Thompson all hit solo home runs for the Vikings as well. JT Reed collected a pair of hits and drove in two. Freshman Dustin Mertz added two more hits and improved his NSAA-leading batting average to .408.
Zach Veneman, Wes Johnson, Parker Vilandre, Jace Hanson, Mitch Taylor and Marcus Niemann all pitched in the Viking victory. Hanson was credited with his first collegiate win after pitching two scoreless innings and striking out two.
Up next: VCSU faces Waldorf at 5:30 p.m. Friday in the first round of the NSAA Tournament. The NSAA Tournament runs Friday-Monday in Valley City.