DVC couldn’t quite pull off the victory against a tough Sacramento City College opponent on Tues., April 11.

The first three and a half innings were a scoreless grind, highlighted by awe-inspiring defensive stops from both teams.

The Vikings (10-22) broke through the stalemate in the bottom of the fourth inning, when catcher Drew Downing scored from second on back-to-back wild pitches from Sacramento pitcher Isaiah Nunez.

Sacramento (24-8) hit back in the top of the fifth after second baseman Ruben Garza led off with a stand-up double. He was brought home three batters later after a battle at the plate culminated in a two-run homer from catcher Antonio Torres.

The Panthers added another run to their lead in the top of the sixth to make it a 3-1 game.

The Vikings were thrown into a potential panic after Downing took a pitch off his facemask. The game soon resumed after he passed concussion protocol.

The bottom of the sixth inning saw DVC in prime position to mount a comeback after loading the bases, but the Vikings were only able to muster up one run on a single from third baseman Andres Rodriguez.

Sacramento came out firing following a Vikings pitching change going into the seventh inning. A stand up double from first baseman Dominic Diana led to a run, and the Panthers now led 4-2.

The Vikings refused to go down without a fight, however, with a base hit leading to another run scored in the bottom of the eighth to pull DVC within one.

With the bases loaded again for DVC in the eighth, it looked like the Vikings might be able to steal the game away from Sacramento. A grounder to short tempered that comeback bid.

DVC came back out in the top of the ninth determined to preserve the one-run deficit. A quick 1-2-3 inning put the Vikings back up to bat for one last chance to steal the game.

The bottom of the ninth started off with a strikeout by the Vikings, putting a little angst into the fans as they yearned for their team to get some traction going.

Hope came in the form of a Jordan Willi walk. A bomb launched to center field in the next at bat brought the crowd to its feet, frantically waiting to see whether it would fly over the center field wall. Caught.

With two outs and one on, the fans grew silent with anticipation.

It was not to be, as a strikeout ended the game and shut down the Vikings’ hopes of adding another win to their conference record.

It was a great game, and both teams fought hard for this one, but the Panthers came out on top 4-3.

The Vikings moved to 5-11 in conference play with the loss. The two teams will meet again on May 13^th in Sacramento.