V-Hawks go 2-0 on Senior Day, Vikings tie up series on Sunday

LA CROSSE, Wis. - The Viterbo University Baseball team had their final weekend home series on Saturday and Sunday. The V-Hawk men hosted Valley City State University and ended up splitting the series with them, with each team collecting two wins. Saturday was Senior Day, where the V-Hawks honored their nine graduating seniors.

Saturday:

Game 1 - Viterbo 7, VCSU 6

• Valley City got the early 2-0 lead on a pair of home runs in the first and 2nd inning, Viterbo tied things up in the bottom of the 3rd with scores from wild pitches.
• There were a total of five home runs in this game, four from Valley City, and one by Viterbo's Darrian Escobar-Winter (SO/Falcon, Colo.). His 3-run homer came in the 5th inning, giving Viterbo the 5-2 lead.
• Valley City tied things back up in the top of the 6th after a pair of home runs.
• An RBI for both Kevin Brandt (SR/Janesville, Wis.) and Cole Benson (SR/Hastings, Minn.) in the bottom of the 8th inning gave Viterbo the 7-5 edge.
• Valley City State was able to score one run in the top of the ninth but it wouldn't be enough and Viterbo secured the win.

Game 2 - Viterbo 3, VCSU 1

• All of the scores came in the first inning. In the top of the inning, Valley City scored on a sac fly to center field. Then, a couple of errors and passed balls committed by the Vikings brought three V-Hawks in.
• Jake Kleszczynski (SR/Thornton, Colo.) pitched a complete game for the V-Hawks, throwing 109 pitches, facing 26 batters, and only allowing four hits, one run, and two walks.

Sunday:

Game 1 - Viterbo 3, VCSU 9

• Viterbo struck first, scoring Marcus Hornacek (FR/De Pere, Wis.) from a sac fly to left field by Ryan Ellingson (SR/La Crescent, Minn.) in the bottom of the second.
• Valley City answered in the top of the third with a grand slam to put them up 4-1. The Vikings added to their lead in the top of the fourth after a couple of walks and a hit by pitch.
• Valley City had two more home runs in the top of the 7th inning to go up 9-1.
• Escobar-Winter had his second home run of the series after he sent it deep to left field and scored Myles Zimdars (JR/Hartford, Wis.) in the process.

Game 2 - Viterbo 4, VCSU 5

• The Vikings scored the first three runs of the game, two in the top of the 1st inning and one in the top of the second.
• Zach Earll (SR/Onalaska, Wis.) had a sac fly to right field in the bottom of the 2nd inning to knock Zimdars in and give Viterbo their first score of the game.
• Valley City had a two run homerun in the top of the 5th inning to make the score 5-1.
• Viterbo rallied in the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring three runs from Escobar-Winter's third home run of the weekend, a Brandt double, and a Zach Braun (JR/Hartford, Wis.) single.
• Viterbo had base runners in position in the bottom of the seventh inning but couldn't knock them in and took the one-point loss.

The Viterbo Baseball team (12-20, 7-11 NSAA) will remain home on Tuesday to face conference opponent Waldorf University for a doubleheader. Game time is set for 2 pm. This will be the last home game for the baseball team. Follow the action on our website or by following us on social media.