Whiting, Ind – June 24, 2022 – The beauty of baseball is that there are no halftimes or intermissions, however, there are some days when teams wish there were.

The Southland Vikings (11-10-1) were one of those teams on Friday night, as they played two completely different baseball games within one game, falling 9-5 to the Northwest Indiana Oilmen (13-10).

“If you look at our first three innings to the last six, you’ll see why you see the scoreboard as it is,” Vikings coach Scott Nowakowski said.

The Vikings’ pitching struggled in the early goings of the contest. The Viking starter walked six batters in three innings of work, allowing five Oilmen runners to cross, leading to a five-run Viking deficit early on.

When you include the Viking bullpen in those totals, the pitching staff gave up 11 walks to Oilmen hitters and played a significant role in helping Northwest Indiana pull away. This inability to throw strikes consistently has been a common source of frustration for the Vikings coaching staff.

One of the few positives was the Vikings’ ability to mount a comeback. The heart of the comeback was the top of the sixth inning, where the Vikings were able to put up three runs in the visitor’s half of the frame.

The offensive leader for Southland Friday night was A.J. Taylor, going two-for-four with a pair of singles and two runs scored.

“It’s always just [look and] hit the fastball,” Taylor said. “If I get that, I’ll go right away and just stay back on the ball.”

The Vikings will play again on Saturday as they once again make the trip to Crown Point to take on the first-place Lake County Corn Dogs. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be aired on Facebook Live and the Vikings Radio Network.