Sagan Osborne – Dickinson State Sports and Marketing Information Director
Dickinson, N.D. – Dickinson State split a pair of games against Valley City State at the NSAA Preseason Classic on March 23 at DCB&T Ballpark, routing the Vikings in the opener before falling late in the second matchup.
In game one, the Blue Hawks erupted for six runs in the first inning and never looked back in a 13-1 win. Jadyn Roberts started the scoring with a two-run homer to center field after Nathaniel Jilek entered as a pinch runner and scored. Wyatt Wilharm followed with a single and later came around on an error. Kadin Finders and Cameron Erickson each drove in runs during the extended inning, and Roberts capped the frame with a bases-loaded walk to bring in the sixth run.
The offensive surge continued in the second, with Ty Farwell driving in Luis Rodriguez to make it 7-0. Moses Dokes then broke the game open in the fifth with a three-run home run to left field. Erickson added two hits and reached base three times, while Dokes finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Roberts had three hits and three RBIs, and Wilharm went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a home run in the third.
Dickinson State piled up 16 hits, with John-Michael Gonzalez Jr. going 3-for-4 and delivering an RBI single in the sixth. Farwell, Finders, and Wilharm each contributed multiple RBIs. Jilek scored twice as a pinch runner.
Trent Richter earned the win, tossing five innings of one-run ball. He allowed five hits, struck out three, and didn't issue a walk. Tate Williams closed the final two innings, facing the minimum and striking out one.
The Blue Hawks played error-free defense behind their pitchers, while Valley City State committed two defensive miscues and walked five.
In the second game, Dickinson State jumped ahead in the third inning but couldn't hold the lead in a 6-4 loss. The Blue Hawks scored four runs in the top of the third, sparked by back-to-back hits from Gonzalez Jr. and Dokes. Dokes delivered a two-run double to tie the game, and Farwell followed with a two-RBI single to give Dickinson State a 4-2 lead.
Valley City State had scored single runs in each of the first three innings and tied the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the third. The game remained even until the bottom of the seventh, when the Vikings got a three-run homer to center by their left fielder to walk it off.
Dickinson State used seven pitchers in the loss. Rogelio Gonzalez started and allowed one run in one inning. Michael Wishowski, Anthony Hanson, Noah Aliff, Dax Chitty, Trent Chavez, and Patrick Dietz combined to cover the final 5.2 innings. Chavez held VCSU scoreless in the sixth before Dietz surrendered the game-winning homer in the seventh.
Offensively, Gonzalez Jr. went 2-for-3 with a double and a run. Dokes had two RBIs and a double. Farwell added two RBIs and a single. Erickson reached base twice, and Finders added a double in the fourth.
Each team tallied seven hits, but Valley City State capitalized late with timely at-bats. The Blue Hawks stranded five runners and were held hitless after the third inning until Erickson's two-out double in the seventh. Jilek pinch ran again and advanced to third, but Roberts flied out to center to end the threat.