VALLEY CITY, N.D. — A late push wasn't enough for the Mayville State baseball team on Wednesday afternoon, as the Comets dropped an 8–4 road contest to Valley City State at Charlie Brown Field.
"Hats off to Valley, they showed up and beat us - they were the better team today," said head coach Billy Tomblin. "Shipman gave them a competitive start, he is a competitive kid and if we don't at least match his competitiveness, he is going to beat you, which ultimately was the result of today."
After falling behind early, the Comets found themselves playing catch-up throughout the game. Valley City State plated two runs in the third inning on a pair of wild pitches to grab the lead. Mayville answered in the top of the fourth when Zach Evanochko ripped an RBI triple to center, bringing home Kevin Conway to cut the deficit to 2–1.
The Vikings, however, responded quickly, adding runs in the fourth and sixth innings before breaking the game open with a four-run eighth.
Mayville State refused to go quietly. In the ninth inning, Marshall Judisch singled in a run and Juan Villarreal followed with an RBI double to bring the Comets within four. Conway, who finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored, and Evanochko, who went 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI, helped pace the offense.
On the mound, Gunnar Lundmark started for the Comets, with nine pitchers seeing action throughout the game. Valley City's G. Shipman earned the win, limiting Mayville to just one earned run through five innings.
"Our pitching has to elevate. The last handful of years we have been really short of pitching but this year we have 29 guys who pitch in some capacity - we need to find 12-14 of those who can get on the mound and execute," added Tomblin. "The issue for us right now isn't talent, it's the ability to perform when it's time to perform. I see our pitchers everyday, they have been working their butts off but it's all about performance on game day and right now we are not getting it done."
The Comets look to get another shot against Valley City State as they host the Vikings this Sunday in a single game starting at 1:00pm at Scott Berry Field, weather pending.
"We are scheduled to play at home on Sunday, weather does not look favorable for that to happen, so we will see how all of that shakes out as we go through the remainder of the week," said Tomblin.
For full schedule details visit: https://msucomets.com/sports/baseball/schedule
