MAYVILLE, N.D. (vcsuvikings.com) – Valley City State University clinched its second straight NSAA Softball Conference Championship on Wednesday with a pair of victories at Mayville State.
The Vikings defeated the Comets 6-0 and 9-1 to secure the regular season conference title. With four NSAA games remaining, the Vikings are now 21-2 in conference play and lead second-place Bellevue by 4.5 games.
It is VCSU’s second straight conference title, the 13th in program history and the first under coaches Mark Mattson and Barbi Mattson. The Vikings last won the title in 2019. The 2020 conference season was canceled due to COVID-19.
“We’re feeling great – everybody’s excited,” head coach Mark Mattson said after the game. “Our goal is always to win the last game of the year, but there are milestones to celebrate along the way. It’s always special to win a conference title.”
The Vikings swept Wednesday’s doubleheader in familiar fashion, getting great pitching, rock-solid defense and explosive offense. Amber Stewart pitched a complete game shutout in the 6-0 victory, and VCSU’s offense helped win game two by run rule after five innings, 9-1.
“Our pitchers pitched extremely well today,” said Mattson. “Both of them came out and got ahead of batters.”
The Vikings have now won 11 games in a row as they improve to 28-5 overall and 21-2 in conference play.
“We’ve just had continuous solid pitching and hitting,” Mattson said. “We’ve had good defense too, and our bats are really rocking and rolling, especially lately. We seem to always have people that are coming through with clutch at bats.”
Up next: Valley City State wraps up the regular season by hosting Presentation College for a four-game series this weekend. Doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday both start at 1 p.m. Sunday is also Senior Day for VCSU Softball.
VCSU 6, Mayville State 0
Amber Stewart pitched a complete-game shutout for the Vikings in game one, scattering four hits and striking out five in the 6-0 victory.
The Viking offense gave her some early run support with two runs in the first inning as Riley Perryman had a clutch two-out single to score Joelle Aiello and Anne-Elise Gest. The Vikings tacked on another run in the second inning, two more in the fourth and one in the sixth inning.
Aiello set the table from the top of the lineup, going 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. Makenzee Stone was 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Jessica Husband added two hits as well. Perryman was 1-for-4 with four RBIs, and Anne-Elise Gest had a hit and scored twice.
VCSU 9, Mayville State 1
The Viking offense rolled early in game two, stringing together five straight hits as part of a six-run second inning. Jessica Husband had the big hit, a two-run double to deep right-center that scored Autumn Perry and Sierra Crocker.
The Vikings tacked on one run in the third inning and two more in the fifth, ending the game by run rule after five innings.
Emily Smith earned the win in the circle, recording 11 of the 15 outs by strikeout. She gave up four hits and a run while walking two.
Autumn Perry went 3-for-3 at the plate, scoring twice. Jessica Husband was 2-for-2 with one run and four RBIs. Sierra Crocker singled and drove in two runs, and Joelle Aiello was 1-for-2 with a run and RBI.