Monday was a rough day for Viking baseball, which hosted the Green Knights of St. Norbert College. The first game was looking like it would be a close one. No score in the second inning, but sophomore Davide Harris tried to get the Vikings on the board by hitting a double. Unfortunately, he was unable to drive in any runs home and the Vikings could not build off of his hit. The Vikings could not connect the bat to the ball, and that was the only hit of the game.
The Vikings held the Knights to only two runs the first four innings, hoping they could come back. In the fifth inning, they let up eight runs, two of which were home runs, making a comeback harder. The Vikings allowed six more runs in the sixth inning, one was another home run. The Vikings lost the game 16-0. Pitchers for this game were sophomore Sam Ausloos and freshman John Doran.
The Vikings tried to learn from and build off of their mistakes going into the second game. The second game started to look a little rough when the Vikings allowed three runs in the first inning, but freshman Sam Kossow, who went two for four in the series, scored two runs to make it a one point game. In the third inning, the Vikings allowed two more runs to give the Knights five runs and a three run lead.
The fourth inning was even harder on our Vikings who allowed six hits and four more runs to score. When it was our turn to bat, things started to look up. Sophomore Michael Baldino was walked and advanced to second base and senior Robert Rashid, who also went two for four in the series, singled to center field that drove Baldino home.
The Vikings finished the game a little better than the first one, allowing only two more runs in the last five innings, one in the sixth and one in the eighth. Freshman Brian King, freshman Chad Skaer and junior Eric Bohling pitched for the Vikings. The Knights took this game 11-3 and swept our Vikings in the double header. May 4, the Vikings will have a rematch against the Knights in another doubleheader.