From VCSU Athletics
VALLEY CITY, N.D. (VCSUAthletics.com) – Viking Softball is back on top of the North Star Athletic Association.
Valley City State University defeated top seed Bellevue University 11-3 in a winner-take-all title game Saturday, securing the NSAA Tournament Championship for the second time in three years and the conference’s automatic bid into the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round.
The Vikings scored five runs in the first inning and four runs in the second to build an early 9-0 lead. After Bellevue cut VCSU’s lead to 9-3, the Vikings ended the game by run rule with a pair of runs in the fifth inning – punctuating the title with a walk-off RBI double by senior Marissa Hawkins.
Valley City State (33-16) entered the double-elimination tournament as the No. 2 seed. The Vikings defeated top seed Bellevue in the semifinals on Friday afternoon, putting themselves in the driver’s seat for championship day. Bellevue won its way back into the championship with an 8-2 victory against Mayville State on Saturday morning. Bellevue then defeated VCSU 7-5 in the first title game, forcing the winner-take-all championship game.
VCSU senior shortstop Joelle Aiello said the team regrouped and refocused after game one.
“Our attitude between games was just to pick our energy up and really come back with that unbeatable mentality that the pressure wasn’t on us and we could do anything,” said Aiello, who recorded her 300th career hit and broke the VCSU single-season home run record with a solo shot in the second inning of game two. “This feels really, really good. I’m so happy to watch this team succeed.”
The Vikings will represent the North Star Athletic Association in the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round, which features 40 teams at 10 sites around the country. Valley City State will find out its seed and destination during the NAIA Softball Selection Show on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Bellevue (42-13) is on the bubble to receive an at-large invitation to the national tournament.
Watch the Selection Show Live – Tuesday, 4 p.m.
In the last three full seasons of North Star softball, the Vikings have now won two regular season titles and two conference tournament championships. Valley City State won the NSAA regular season and tournament titles in 2019. The 2020 season was canceled due to COVID, and last year the Vikings won the regular season title before losing in the NSAA Tournament championship game.
“We had this feeling a couple of years ago, and I forgot how great this feeling is,” said a smiling Aiello after the game.
Aiello tied VCSU’s single-season home run record with her 15th home run in game one. In game two, Aiello broke the record with a solo shot in the second inning – which was also her 300th career hit. She added another solo home run in the fifth inning, giving her 17 home runs this season. That break the old record of 15 set by Kelli Unrein in 2006.
The Vikings finished with 13 hits in game two, outhitting the Bruins 13-4. Aiello and Rodriguez both went 3-for-3 and drove in two runs each. Aiello scored a team-high three runs, and Jessica Husband added two hits and two runs. Riley Perryman, Anne-Elise Gest and Sierra Crocker all had a hit and scored two runs each.
Brooke Gaudry picked up the win the circle, allowing just four hits and three runs over her four innings of work. She walked two and struck out two. Joelle Lamontagne, who earned the win in VCSU’s first three games of the tournament, pitched a scoreless fifth inning to finish off the title game.
Rodriguez had a perfect day at the plate Saturday, finishing the two games 6-for-6 with a home run and four RBIs.
GAME 1: Bellevue 7, VCSU 5
Bellevue scored three runs in the top of the third, and the Vikings were playing catch-up the rest of the game as the Bruins picked up a 7-5 victory in the first championship game.
Valley City State trimmed the deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the third inning, picking up an RBI single from Jessica Husband and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch on Anne-Elise Gest. The Bruins pushed across two more runs in the fifth for a 5-2 lead.
The Vikings again answered in the bottom of the inning as Joelle Aiello hit her 15th home run of the season – a solo shot to left brought the Vikings to within 5-3. Aiello’s home run tied the VCSU single season record set by Kelli Unrein back in 2006.
In the sixth inning, Bellevue pushed across two more runs to extend the lead to 7-3, but VCSU’s Andrea Rodriguez battled back with a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 7-5. The Vikings put their leadoff runner on in the bottom of the seventh, but could not expand the threat and Bellevue forced the second championship game with a 7-5 win.
Rodriguez had a 3-for-3 game at the plate, scoring once and driving in two with her home run. Riley Perryman and Husband each had two hits as the Vikings finished with eight hits. Joelle Lamontagne pitched a complete game for VCSU, scattering six hits and seven runs – five of which were earned. She walked three and struck out five.