Valley City--One solid inning put the Viking baseball team in contention to win the Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC) opener. A bad inning later, the opportunity was gone.

The Vikings dropped an 11-10 decision to Dakota State in the first of a double-header Friday afternoon in Madison, SD, the first game of the DAC season.

Five runs in the seventh brought the Vikings out of an 8-4 hole, and a Josh Evans homerun in the eighth pushed the lead to 10-8. Three Trojan runs in the home half of the eighth, set up by a walk, a hit batsman, and a throwing error, gave Dakota State the win.

Michael Danielson (Fr., New London, MN, pictured right) went 2-4 with a run and two RBI for the Vikings, and Colin Waldner (Fr., Altona, MB) was 2-5 with two runs and three RBI.

The Vikings took advantage of Trojan mistakes to explode for their five-run seventh. Justin Connell (Jr., Bismarck, ND) reached on an error to start the inning, starting a streak of seven straight Vikings to reach. Two reached on errors, one walked, and four came up with base hits.

The big blow came from Danielson. He delivered a bases-loaded double, becoming the seventh straight Viking to reach in the inning, and plating a pair of runs, giving the Vikings a 9-8 lead.

The Trojans would have their answer after the Vikings plated another in their half of the eighth. A single, a beanball, and a walk would load the bases with no outs.

After a fielders choice plated a run, pinch-hitter Ryan Bouchier grounded to Viking third baseman Tanner Bombenger (So., Fargo, ND), who made a wild throw, allowing two runs to score, giving the lead back to the Trojans 11-10.

Three ground balls by the Viking bats in the ninth ended the game.

The Vikings went on to drop the second game 10-1. Dakota State took advantage of a first-inning error, and Josh Tiede and Lance Hargrove hit back-to-back homers to put four runs on the board for the Trojans, who never looked back.

Connell (above) was 3-4 for the Vikings in the second game.

The Vikings continue their four-games series with two Saturday.