Hammond, Ind. – July 14, 2022 – After gaining a game in the standings after a doubleheader sweep, the Vikings suffered a setback in Thursday night’s game. 

The Southland Vikings (20-13-2) lost to the Northwest Indiana Oilmen (19-15) by a final score of 6-4. The loss marks the first time the Vikings have not won back-to-back home games since May 30. 

“They just had a couple of timely hits that kind of turned the game around,” Vikings Manager Scott Nowakowski said. “Other than that pitchers threw well, for the most part, they threw strikes.” 

Throwing strikes enabled the Vikings to stay in the ballgame and the credit goes to Max Everaert. Everaert made a rare relief appearance but he was brought into the ballgame earlier than expected. 

Everaert went five and one-third out of the ‘pen, yielding five hits while picking up eight strikeouts. However, the seventh inning was the roughest for Everaert. As he walked three batters (one of them coming with the bases loaded), as well as three hits. This allowed the Oilmen to grab the lead while giving Everaert the tough loss on the assignment. 

“He is a bulldog,” Nowakowski said. “He fights through a lot of adversity here, even at our school, so I know his capabilities. I felt confident leaving him in there.” 

The Vikings offensively saw Julio Treviño return to the lineup and produce. Treviño went two-for-four with a run scored. 

“Pretty good,” Treviño said. “I needed to get my mind straight and when I came back, I was ready to go. Because the mental approach when you’re at bat is a big part of playing baseball. And once you’re in there locked in, it’s a whole different game.”

Besides Treviño, the Vikings had a two-run fifth inning sparked by the top of their order. After both Kyle Fenner and Blaze Cano reached to start the inning, Jason Krol and Chris McDevitt would proceed to hit back-to-back RBI groundouts to score both runs and give Southland the lead at the time. 

Despite Southland’s inability to complete the comeback Thursday, it was not for a lack of hustle or effort. After Daniel Barrios came off the bench and hit a single to lead off the eighth, he would advance to second on a wild pitch, proceed to swipe the bag at third, and because of an overthrow on the throw down, Barrios would score to cut the deficit to two. 

But that’s where it would stay. As the Vikings fell at home for just the sixth time this summer. 

The Vikings will be back in action on Monday, July 18, when they play host to the Chicago American Giants at Dowling Park. The two sides will square off at 5 p.m. and will be aired on Facebook Live and the Vikings Radio Network.