Apr. 12—VALLEY CITY, N.D. — The University of Jamestown baseball team responded to getting shutout in the first game of the doubleheader with the opposite of a shutout, beating Valley City State University 20-3 in the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday, April 12, at the Vikings' Charlie Brown Memorial Field.
The Jimmies had a chance to get off to a quick start when they loaded the bases in the first inning but a groundout kept the game scoreless. The Vikings opened the scoring in the bottom of the second when Cam Pero hit a solo shot to center to make it 1-0.
The Jimmies were able to respond in the top of the third when Isaiah Roebuck hit a double into the gap in left-center to score a run and knot the game up at one. The Jimmies' Ben Patton continued the momentum in the frame with a bases clearing double to push the Jimmies in front 3-1. The Jimmies kept pushing and got two more in the top of the fourth including one on a double steal where Chase Burke stole home and Varen Sabino was tagged out to end the inning but it came after Burke slide into the dish to make it 5-1.
After the Jimmies took a 6-1 lead in the top of the sixth, the Vikings responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame to bring it closer at 6-3. The Jimmies put the game out of reach in the top of the eighth with a 14 run frame to go up 20-3. In the inning, the Jimmies had 11 hits and scored eight runs before an out was recorded in the frame. The Jimmies' 14 runs in the eighth inning of game two are their most in a single inning since they scored 16 in the sixth inning of a 19-15 win against Mount Marty on March 26, 2022.
"I think we did a really nice job of staying gap to gap and getting good counts to hit in and when you can use the whole field and get good counts to hit in, you can score runs," Jimmies head coach Tom Hager said.
The Jimmies are back in action at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 12, when they take on Briar Cliff.
UJ 20, VCSU 3
UJ: 0 0 3 2 0 1 0 14 — 20 17 1
VCSU: 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 — 3 8 2
WP: Isaac Hanson (4-0), LP: Anthony Carasquillo (3-5)
The Jimmies were unable to break through in a 6-0 loss to the Vikings in the first game of the doubleheader.
The loss was the first time the Jimmies were shut out since April 8, 2024. The win was the first time the Vikings shut a team out since March 2, 2024.
The Vikings struck first when Jamel Chabot smoked a ball over the wall in left-center to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. The Vikings added two more in the inning to get off to a quick 3-0 lead. The hosts added another one in the second to take a 4-0 lead.
"It was awesome. We've played from behind a litlte bit in a lot of games this year even if it's a run or two runs," Vikings head coach Alec DeMaria said. "But we were able to get up on top right away, Takao Cookson was unbelievable, he pitched a great game, which we know he can do now that he's back and healthy. It just allowed us to start doing some different things that we haven't been able to do, when you're down by four, five runs, it's tough to bunt, run, do the little things and we did so very well and our hitters executed very well and that was very fun to watch."
The Vikings had a chance to put the game away in the fourth when they had runners on the corners but the Jimmies were able to get out of it.
The Vikings' Cam Pero continued his big day at the plate when he hit a run-scoring double to push his team's lead out to 5-0 in the fifth. The Vikings added one more in the frame to go up by six runs.
The Jimmies had their best chance of the day in the sixth when they had second and third with one out but back-to-back strikeouts ended the threat.
"I think that was a piece of the game, a small piece," ...
