On Thursday, March 2, the Mounties returned to play their first game in nine days because of weather-related postponements. They hosted South Coast Conference opponent Long Beach City Vikings for the first of a three-game series. They traveled to Long Beach for the latter two on Saturday, March 4.

The Mounties took the series 2-1 last season, but that was not the case this year.

During Thursday’s first matchup, it was a quick exchange in the first inning. It was during the second inning that the Mounties struck first. After they got the bases loaded, a sacrifice fly by sophomore shortstop Elijah Pelayo (5) allowed sophomore Damien Delgadillo (3) who played the designated hitter in this game to score. Putting the Mounties on the scoreboard, 1-0, over the Vikings.

But that was the only run the Mounties scored in this game, with base runners left on second and first base.

Both teams went down the batting list swiftly to end the third inning. The Mounties left another set of base runners on first and second to end the fourth inning.

It was the Vikings’ show from the fifth inning on, scoring at least one run every inning except the seventh inning. They got on the base with a single, then an RBI triple and scored from a wild pitch before ending the inning with a 2-1 lead over the Mounties who had no answer for those runs.

Sophomore pitcher Michael Flores (15) works hard on the mound to try to keep his team in the game. (Christie Yeung)

Vikings managed to score two more runs, leading 4-1, before the Mounties took the bats. After the sixth innings, sophomore pitcher Michael Flores (15) was substituted off. He gave up four runs with two errors and recorded seven strikeouts.

Freshman pitcher Joey Peralta (8) stepped up in the seventh inning and took care of business with a 1-2-3 inning. The Vikings also swapped to a new pitcher with two out and runners on first and second base. The bases were then loaded with two out after a hit-by-a-pitch walk. The Mounties’ dugout started rallying as freshman first baseman Gibby Morales (34) was at bat, but the cheers were short-lived as Morales (34) got struck out with the bases loaded.

The Mounties started off the eighth inning with another new pitcher, freshman pitcher Jake Mitchell (28) who began red-hot with two strikeouts but then pitched two back-to-back walks and an RBI single to give Vikings a 5-1 lead. The Mounties would bring in another pitcher, sophomore pitcher Damian Torres (19), to try to end the inning which he did. Although they were given a lead-off walk, they were unable to bring him home heading into the ninth inning still trailing.

The Vikings would face another new pitcher, sophomore pitcher Blake Johnson (37) to start off the final inning and they would score on a wild pitch and extend their lead to 6-1 before facing another new Mountie pitcher, freshman pitcher Blake Hagerty (23) who wrapped up the Vikings’ at-bat with a pop-out foul ball and two strikeouts.

Despite the Mounties’ effort to have two runners on first and second base, they could not bring anyone home before popping out to end the game.

The Mounties ended up getting swiped by the Vikings, 0-3, in this series, losing 1-3 and 3-9, respectively, on Saturday, March 4. Their next game is away, on Tuesday, March 7, against a non-conference opponent, the Santa Barbara Vaqueros.