From VCSU Athletics
VALLEY CITY, N.D. (VCSUAthletics.com) – Anne-Elise Gest hit a walk-off grand slam Thursday afternoon as the Valley City State softball team defeated Dakota State 14-6 by mercy rule.
Starting pitcher Joelle Lamontagne also earned her 20th win of the season in the 5-inning victory.
No. 2 VCSU improves to 31-15 and will face No. 1 Bellevue on Friday at 2 p.m. The Vikings and Bruins each went 2-0 Thursday to open the NSAA Tournament. No. 3 Dakota State drops to 19-25 and takes on No. 4 Dickinson State in a loser’s out game Friday at 11:30 a.m.
The Vikings used key base hits to build up the lead Thursday as they totaled 14 runs on 13 hits while also drawing six walks. Dakota State’s pitchers did not strike out a single VCSU batter Thursday.
VCSU opened a 3-0 lead in the first inning on RBI singles from Marissa Hawkins and Sierra Crocker. A Hawkins sac fly and Gest single scored two more in the second to lead 5-1. Then in the third inning, Riley Perryman added a 2-run single, and RBI singles from Husband and Hawkins lifted the Vikings to a 9-3 advantage.
Dakota State’s Michelle Evdos hit a 2-run triple and Xotchli Lopez drove in Evdos to close the gap to 9-6 in the fourth. Ashlynne Copinga later scored Crocker in the bottom half of the inning.
After holding the Trojans scoreless in the top of the fifth, Perryman walked to lead off the bottom of the inning. Husband reached on a Trojan error, and Hawkins singled up the middle to load the bases with no outs. Gest then smashed the walk-off grand slam to finish the game by mercy rule, 14-6 after five innings.
Hawkins went 3-for-3 at the plate with three RBIs, while Gest, Andrea Rodriguez and Ashlynne Copinga each added two hits for VCSU. Gest drove in a team-best five runs and scored twice. Perryman totaled two RBIs and scored two runs while Husband and Joelle Aiello scored three runs apiece.
Lamontagne (20-6) got the win in the circle while working all 5 innings. She allowed six runs on 10 hits, walked two and struck out three.
Dakota State’s Xotchli Lopez went 3-for-3 and drove in two runs while Alexus Foster was 2-for-2 and drove in one for the Trojans. Angela Slattery got the loss in the circle Thursday after allowing nine runs on eight hits and walking five batters in 2 and 1/3 innings of work. Rosie Philop and Madison Aldendifer each pitched in relief.