Photo and Article via Valley City State Athletics
BELLEVUE, NEB (vcsuvikings.com)– The Valley City State softball team defeated Waldorf on Saturday morning to make it to the NSAA Championship game, but fell in a 4-3 battle to Dickinson State.
Dickinson State (33-13) earns the conference’s automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament as the 2021 NSAA Tournament Champions.
The Vikings (35-7) will now wait to see if they earn an at-large bid to the NAIA National Tournament by the selection committee. The NAIA will announce national qualifiers on Tuesday, May 11, at 4 p.m.
A total of 40 teams will qualify for the NAIA Opening Round. There will be 32 automatic bids decided by individual conferences and eight spots remaining for at-large bids. Valley City State was ranked No. 26 in the latest NAIA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll.
With four hits Saturday, VCSU shortstop Joelle Aiello set a new school record with 238 career hits. She surpasses Cyndi Figol who previously held the record with 237 career hits.
VCSU 4, Waldorf 0
Valley City State scored all of its runs in the second inning as the Vikings shut out Waldorf 4-0 to advance to the NSAA Championship game.
Marissa Hawkins and Anne-Elise Gest each hit an RBI double, and Andrea Rodriguez added an RBI single. Joelle Aiello also drove in a run with a sac fly to centerfield.
Andrea Rodriguez went 3-for-3 at the plate, scored one run and added one RBI. Autumn Perry and Marissa Hawkins each went 2-for-3 at the plate.
Emily Smith worked all seven innings and allowed just two hits. She did not walk a batter and struck out 13 in the game.
Dickinson State 4, VCSU 3
Dickinson State took an early lead in the first inning with a two-run triple from Hailey Enriquez. Valley City State took a 3-2 lead in the third inning with RBI singles from Joelle Aiello, Riley Perryman and Sierra Crocker.
Enriquez then added a sac fly in the third to tie, and hit a go-ahead solo home run in the sixth. She finished going 2-for-2 at the plate, scored once and drove in all four of Dickinson State’s runs.
In the final inning, Aiello opened with a single and advanced to second on a sac bunt from Autumn Perry. Jaya Allen then retired Perryman and Makenzee Stone to end the game and take the 4-3 victory.
Jaya Allen got the win for the Blue Hawks, working seven innings and allowing one earned run on nine hits. She walked just one batter and struck out eight.
Emily Smith got the loss in the circle and holds a 21-3 record this season. She allowed four runs on five hits while walking two and striking out eight.
Aiello went 4-for-4 at the plate, scored one run and drove in one. Gest, Perryman, Crocker, Stone and Jessica Husband each added a hit for the Vikings.