VALLEY CITY, ND (VCSUVikings.com) The Valley City State softball team will be the No. 2 seed for the North Star Athletic Association Tournament, slated for May 3-6. The postseason softball tournament is hosted by Dickinson State for the second straight year, held at Bravera Field at the Sanford Sports Complex in Dickinson, N.D.
The Vikings look to capture the NSAA Tournament title for a third straight year starting Friday afternoon. VCSU finished the regular season with a 17-6 NSAA record and a 25-20 mark overall. The Vikings will face No. 7 Viterbo University who went 5-19 in the North Star and 9-38 overall.
VCSU currently leads the conference in batting average (.322), slugging percentage (.471), hits (392), RBI (232), doubles (67), home runs (34), extra-base hits (107) and runs scored (251). The Viking pitchers total a 3.77 ERA, and lead the league in strikeouts per seven innings (5.74) while allowing the least amount of home runs (9).
All seven teams will play in the NSAA Softball Postseason Conference Tournament, which feature a double elimination format. The seeding is based on the regular-season North Star conference record (winning percentage).
The tournament champion receives the NSAA’s automatic berth to the NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round, which will be played on May 13-16 on 10 sites announced by the NAIA. The national opening round winners will move on to the 43rd annual NAIA Softball World Series at South Commons Softball Complex in Columbus, Ga. on May 23-29.