VALLEY CITY, N.D. (VCSU Sports Information) – Coming off a great Florida trip that saw Valley City State go 7-3, which was the best southern trip in four years. The Vikings won the last six games, and the six-game winning streak is then longest since 2020-21. They have not won seven in a row since the 2016-17 season when they reeled off a nine-game streak.
VCSU is 13-8 on the season as the they get ready for conference play.
This weekend, Valley City State heads to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for a four-game, Frontier Conference Round Robin. The Vikings play Bismarck State College and Dakota State University on Saturday, then turn around and play Dickinson State and #4 Bellevue on Sunday.
The Vikings hit .336 on the Florida trip with seven players hitting over 300. Cody Wielgosh, Hunter Logan, and Alexis Velasco had the best trip hitting .405, .381, and .425 respectively. Nick Senn hit .394 and had a .444 on-base-percentage. Diesel Goya hot .379 with a .538 OBP. Evan Gonzalez did the heavy lifting with three home runs, Senn had two. Logan drove in 18 runs and scored 14, both were team highs for the trip. On the bases, the Vikings were 10-14 in stolen bases with Wielgosh leading the way with four steals in four attempts.
Takoa Cookson and Connor Martin led the pitching staff. Cookson tossed 16 innings, picked up two wins, and had a 2.81 ERA. Martin had 14 innings pitched, picked up two wins, and struck out 24 batters. Jarrett Faue was strong on the back end of the bullpen with two saves, 15 strike outs in 9.1 innings, and had a 1.92 ERA. As a staff, the Vikings had 110 strike outs in 86.2 innings.
After this weekend, the Vikings will head to Nebraska to open Frontier Conference play with #4 Bellevue. Valley City State will be tested early with five straight games against one of the best teams in the country. The last game in Sioux Falls, then the four game series to start conference action.
The Vikings first home game is scheduled for March 31st against Bismarck State College.