A walk-off hit in game one, and dominant pitching in game two equaled a Viking doubleheader sweep of Hill, as the pair began a four game series on Wednesday, March 27.
Game 1
After a scoreless top of the first, the Viking offense went to work quickly. Sloan Barrett led off with a single, and moved to second when Tyler Brodrick was hit by a pitch. Mason Ruiz moved both runners up 90 feet. Trey Oblas brought home the first run on an RBI single, and John Maldonado Jr followed suit with an RBI, to put the Vikings up 2-0. Hill followed with a run in the second inning, and took a 3-2 lead with two outs in the fourth inning.
Grayson answered right back in the bottom of the inning. Blake McCarthy led off with a single, and the Vikings loaded the bases via a walk from Jackson Harrell and Sloan Barrett. Brodrick tied the game with another walk, and Ruiz plated the go-ahead run with a groundout. A bloop single from Hill tied things in the top of the fifth, setting the stage for an electric finish.
Walker Polk led off the bottom of the seventh with a triple off the wall in center field. McCarthy and Brandon Seidmeyer drew back-to-back walks to load the bases with only one out. Kain Sanchez hit a ball hard, but right to the drawn in infield for the second out. Harrell ended the game with another hard hit ground ball, and his hustle beat the throw, secure the win, and cued the celebratory mobbing from his teammates.
McCarthy reached base in all four plate appearances, finishing 3-3 with a walk. Barrett and Oblas contributed a pair of hits.
Clay Kemp started the game, and threw 3.1 innings, giving up five hits, three runs (one earned) and struck out one. Chase Davis got the win in relief, getting five strikeouts in 3.2 innings pitched, giving up just one run on two hits.
Game 2
The Viking offense picked up where they left off in the first game.
McCarthy started the third inning with a hard single, and moved to second on a sacrifice fly from Cylan Madden. After a walk from Barrett to put runners on the corners, Brodrick singled home the first run to put Grayson up 1-0. The Vikings pulled off the double steal; Brodrick stole second, and Barrett stole home, to put Grayson up 2-0 at the end of the third.
Polk increased the lead to 3-0 with a solo blast in the fourth inning.
Trenton Shaw was dominant from the very first pitch he threw. Shaw was untouchable for seven innings, facing the minimum number of hitters through the first six innings.
Madden notched another RBI in the bottom of the seventh inning to push the lead to 4-0, but Hill was scrappy against the Viking bullpen, and put up two runs in the eighth inning. Maldonado Jr added a run in the eighth on a single, and the bullpen shut the door on a potential rally securing the victory for Grayson.
Shaw threw seven shutout innings of one hit baseball, striking out 11 on the day. Offensively, Brodrick finished 2-4 with an RBI, while Polk was 1-4 with a home run and an RBI.
The pair of wins moved the Vikings to 6-4 in conference play. The series shifts to Hill for a doubleheader on Friday, March 29. First pitch is set for 12 pm.
