From VCSU Athletics

VALLEY CITY, N.D. (VCSUAthletics.com) – Avery Bennefeld and Dustin Mertz combined for six hits and seven RBIs Friday afternoon as the Valley City State baseball team picked up an 8-7 victory over Concordia Wisconsin.

Bennefeld was 4-for-4 with three RBIs, while Mertz had two hits and a second-inning grand slam to highlight VCSU’s offense.

Mertz’s grand slam keyed a 5-run second inning for the Vikings, and then Bennefeld’s 2-run single in the seventh gave the Vikings an 8-3 lead. Concordia cut the Vikings lead to 8-7 with a 2-run home run to start the bottom of the ninth, but Viking pitcher Marcus Niemann recovered to strike out the side and secure the victory.

For the third straight game, Valley City State went with a pitcher-by-committee approach as a way to keep their top arms fresh for the 4-game conference series with Dickinson starting on Sunday.

On Friday afternoon, Adam Thompson got the start on the mound and went three solid innings for the win. The right-hander struck out two and allowed three hits and two runs over his three innings. Hunter Magnuson, Carter Dodd, Jace Hanson and Niemann all pitched in relief. Hanson gave the Vikings 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out one.

The Vikings finished with 10 hits, including four by Bennefeld and two by Mertz. JT Reed added two hits as well and scored three of VCSU’s runs. David Demeter and Drew Nixon each had a hit, and both Zach Veneman and Jayden Shipman scored a run.

With the win, Valley City State improves to 9-9 overall and is now 2-1 in Tucson. VCSU begins a four-game series with Dickinson State on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT in Tucson. All four games will be NSAA conference games.