ABERDEEN, S.D. (VCSUVikings.com) – Dickinson State scored the final six runs Saturday night as the Blue Hawks rallied for a 10-9 victory over Valley City State University, eliminating the Vikings from the NSAA Softball Championships.

VCSU, which defeated Presentation College earlier in the day, entered the game needing to beat Dickinson State twice to claim the Navy Bracket championship. VCSU appeared ready to force the second game after taking a 9-4 lead after 5 1/2 innings, but Dickinson State scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth and then plated two more in the bottom of the seventh for the walk-off win.

Dickinson State moves on to the NSAA Softball Championship Series, where they will face top seed University of Jamestown in a best-of-three series.

Valley City State moves to 39-12 overall this season after going 2-2 at the conference tournament. The Vikings must now wait and see if they’ve done enough to earn an at-large bid to the 40-team NAIA National Tournament. The Vikings entered the conference tournament as the No. 29-ranked team in the NAIA Coaches’ Poll. The bracket reveal of the 40 national championship opening round qualifiers will occur Tuesday, May 8, at 4 p.m. CT on the NAIA Facebook Page.

 

VCSU 8, Presentation College 0

Valley City State prevailed in a loser-out game as they defeated the Saints of Presentation College Saturday afternoon. With the score at 2-0 in favor of the Vikings, the game was held to a stop in the fifth inning due to lightning in the area. However, the Vikings came out and scored six unanswered runs after the delay to defeat the Saints for the 8-0 mercy run rule win. With the loss, the Saints’ season ends.

Both teams were unable to produce any runs in the first three innings of the game until the top of the fourth when the Vikings struck two on the board. VCSU’s Voni Culp reached base on a fielder’s choice to bring Emily Smith for the first run of the game. The second run came off an error by PC’s Ashlyn O’Keefe to bring home Kelli Moore.

Due to lightning in the area, the game was put on hold for roughly two hours after four complete innings with the Vikings leading 2-0.

However, it was all Valley City from there. The Vikings offense proved to be too much for the Saints as they strung together four singles, two doubles, and one triple for the six-run inning to come away with the 8-0 win in five innings.

Valley City outhit the Saints 13-4 in the contest with Joelle Aiello leading the way going 3-for-4. Three other Vikings recorded multiple hits in the win with Emily Smith, Kelli Moore, and Voni Culp with two apiece.

Kassandra Orozco led the Saints tailing two of the team’s four hits. Lenessa Nelson and Darrian Gibson rounded out the final two hits in the loss.

 

Dickinson State 10, Valley City State 9

Kayla Stephens hit a walk-off double in the bottom of the 7th inning, scoring Jalen Creech from second base and sending No. 3 seed Dickinson State to the NSAA Championship Series.

Stephens’ winner capped a two-run inning for the Blue Hawks and completed a comeback from being down 9-4 entering the bottom of the sixth inning.

Dickinson State struck first with two runs in the bottom of the first inning and from there it turned into an offensive slugfest. The two teams combined for 29 hits and 19 runs in the game.

Valley City State scored in five straight innings to build a 9-4 lead. Holding a 5-4 advantage, the Vikings appeared to break the game open with four runs in the top of the sixth inning. RBI hits by Emily Smith and Voni Culp highlighted the big inning for the Vikings.

The Blue Hawks bounced right back though with four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, including two on a bases-loaded single off the bat of Rayleen Ortiz.

The Vikings put runners on first and second in the top of the seventh but were unable to push across an insurance run, setting up Dickinson State’s walk-off victory in the bottom of the inning.

Kelsey Hamade, Emily Smith and Voni Culp all had three hits in the game for VCSU. Smith, Jayme Menard and Tatum Lundin each drove in a pair of runs. VCSU outhit Dickinson State, 17-12.

Emily Smith took the loss for VCSU after pitching 1 1/3 innings in relief. Haley Butterfield started in the circle for VCSU and went five innings. She gave up eight hits and seven runs while walking eight. Butterfield was chased during Dickinson State’s rally in the bottom of the sixth. Nichole Reed pitched 1/3 of an inning in the sixth before giving way to Smith.

NOTES: VCSU’s Emily Smith and Kelli Moore each had one double on the day, giving them each 19 doubles for the season. They are now co-holders of the new school record, breaking the old mark of 18 set by Cyndi Figol in 2008. VCSU freshman Joelle Aiello currently has 79 hits this season, which put her in position to potentially break the school record of 82 (Katie Cameron, 2016) if VCSU is selected for the national tournament.