DVC was defeated by Sierra 9-3 on Tuesday, March 5.

The Vikings grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning, when a Nick Gavello double drove in Devin Alexander.

Pitcher Ben Krauth held Sierra scoreless until the 4th: after a leadoff single and subsequent double, an RBI ground out tied the game at 1-1. Krauth induced two more ground outs to end the inning.

Miscues in the 5th tilted the game in Sierra’s favor. A leadoff single, balk, and a double to deep right field put men on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. An error by Brdar on a throw to 2nd allowed each runner to advance a base, giving Sierra their first lead at 1-2. A single between third and shortstop drove in the runner at 3rd and an error by Krauth allowed another run to come home, pushing Sierra’s lead to 1-4.

DVC caught up in the 6th. Michael Mann drew a one out walk and then scored on a double ripped to right-center by Alexander. After advancing to 3rd on a passed ball, an error by Sierra’s third baseman allowed Alexander to score, making it 3-4. After DVC fought back, the 8th inning would prove to be their downfall.

Ricky Delgado replaced Krauth on the mound, and after striking out the first batter he faced, allowing a single and then getting a popout, DVC looked poised to remain down just one run. But Delgado suddenly lost his command, serving up back-to-back home runs: a 3-run homer and a solo shot. Sierra tacked on one more run to in the 8th to leave DVC with a six run deficit, 3-9.

Sierra went down 1-2-3 in the top of the 9th, and Sierra struck out DVC’s side to end the game.

When asked what went wrong in the 8th inning, Coach Dan Luquet pointed to the earlier innings as the start of their issues. “I think the problems started earlier in the game. We threw away a couple double play opportunities, had some errors, and we didn’t take advantage of our chances to tie,” he said.

He did like the effort in the 6th to close the gap. “We did a good job of battling a really good pitcher. I think he was undefeated coming into this game.” However, Luquet admitted, “You can battle all you want, but if you can’t get the lead, it doesn’t matter.”