BELLEVUE, NEB. (VCSU Sports Information) – Valley City State began Frontier Conference play by splitting a doubleheader with Bellevue University. The Bruins took the first game 4-1 while the Vikings took game two 6-5.
Valley City State is 11-12 on the season and 1-1 in the Frontier Conference. Bellevue is 1-1 in the conference and 10-12 overall.
Game 1: Bellevue 4, Valley City State 1
The Bruins got on the board first with three runs in the bottom of the first. Mariah Unverzagt drove in Marguerite Brown with a infield single to make it 1-0 Bruins. Breane McMurtry doubled, scoring Unverzagt to make it 2-0. Leslie Egan grounded out, scoring Miranda Garcia, making it 3-0 Bruins.
The score stayed that way until the bottom of the fifth when McMurtry singled in Kaitlyn Fisher to make it 4-0.
The Vikings, did not go down quietly, however. In the top of the seventh, Avery Kuklinski reached on a one-out single. Pascale Kihn singled to center, Kuklinski reached third and Kihn moved to second on the throw. Madden Bogenreif walked, loading the bases. After Jenna Decker struck out for the second out of the inning, Kennadi Stone singled to left, scoring Kuklinski to make it 4-1. But Unverzagt struck out Kylee Banerd to end the inning.
Kennadi Stone led the Vikings by going 3 for 3 with an RBI. Avery Kuklinski was 2 for with a run scored. Madden Bogenreif was 1 for 3. Pascale Kihn and Kylee Banerd were each 1 for 4.
Maddy Hazelton took the loss in the circle. She pitched six innings, allowed six hits, four earned runs with four walks and five strike outs.
Game 2: Valley City State 6, Bellevue 5
Valley City State used a three-run fifth inning to take the lead then had to hold off Bellevue to take the second game of the doubleheader.
Bellevue again struck first with a run in the bottom of the first on Breanne McMurtry’s RBI double.
The Vikings tied it with an RBI single by Ashlyn Schumacher, scoring MacNeill who reached on an error to lead off the inning.
The Bruins regained the lead when a run scored on an error in the bottom of the second.
Valley City State would come right back and take the lead in the top of the third on Kylee Banerd’s RBI double and MacNeill’s triple to make it 3-2 Vikings.
Bellevue tied it at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth on a bases-loaded walk to Miranda Garcia.
VCSU took control of the game with a three spot in the fifth, all coming with two out. With runners at second and third, MacNeill doubled to center. Madden Bogenreif and Jenna Decker both scored to make it 5-3. Back-to-back walks would load the bases for Anna Kowalyk. She would walk, scoring MacNeill to make it 6-3.
The Bruins would make things interesting in the bottom of the sixth. McMurtry singled in a run. With the bases loaded, Savanah Short hit a sacrifice fly to score Unverzagt to make it 6-5. With the tying run at second, Cooper Klaahsen got Emma Crisman to pop out to end the threat.
Maddy Hazelton retired the Bruins 1-2-3 in the seventh to earn a save. Klaahsen got the win in relief to improve to 3-2 on the season. It was Hazelton’s first save of the season.
Katelyn MacNeill led the offense by going 2 for 4 with a double, triple, two runs scored and three RBI. Madden Bogenreif was 1 for 3 with two runs scored. Ashlyn Schumacher was 1 for 3 with an RBI.
Kennadi Stone was 1 for 3. Kylee Banerd was 1 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI. Pascale Kihn was 1 for 4.
UP NEXT: The two teams continue their series with a doubleheader on Saturday. Game one is an12:00 p.m. Game two will follow at 2:00 p.m.