Diablo Valley College defeated the Napa Valley College Storm Tuesday afternoon by a score of 9-2.

The Vikings made sure to bring their bats Tuesday, which was evident after the team put up 18 hits on Napa Valley pitching.

The nine-run performance was DVC’s highest scoring game of the season so far.

“One thing we could do, based on the fall, was hit, and we started doing that today, so it had a snowball effect and got some of our guys going,” said head coach Steve Ward.

Amazingly, it wasn’t even the bats that got the Vikings started, it was a mental lapse.

Napa Valley pitcher Ben Aguigui committed a balk, which allowed infielder Jordan Williams to score from third base.

Aguigui had a subpar outing overall, going five innings while allowing two runs on ten hits, in addition to three walks.

Once Aguigui was removed from the game, however, the Vikings poured on the offense, scoring six runs in the sixth inning off Napa Valley pitchers Alex Nelson and Andrew Benns.

“I think everybody just came out with the will to work; we were all just struggling offensively, and we all just wanted to break out of our slumps,” said infielder Isaq Lewis, who added a two-run RBI double in the sixth inning.

Vikings starting pitcher Kevin Herron tossed a beauty of a game, going seven innings, allowing only one run, one walk and struck out six.

The game was Herron’s first win of the season.

“The fastball was working, so I just kept going with it and shook off any off-speed (pitch) I got,” said Herron.

In addition to the many things the offense did on Tuesday, they provided a level of confidence with run support for Herron, which also proved vital.

“It feels great, the more runs you got, the better, it feels more comfortable out there throwing,” said Herron.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Vikings, who will play their next game 2 p.m. Thursday against College of San Mateo in Pleasant Hill.