Hammond, Ind. – July 3, 2023 – The Southland Vikings defeated the Indiana Panthers on Monday despite only having three hits on offense. They did so with the help of strong pitching performances from Matt Maloney, Julien Hachem and Brandon West.
On a day where the bats were struggling to connect against Panthers starter Alberto Lamas, the pitching reigned supreme.
Maloney started the game for the Vikings, tossing five innings while allowing just one run on four hits with two strikeouts and no walks in a no decision.
“I’ve always been a big believer of throwing strikes and letting our defense work,” Maloney said after making his first start of the season. “Today, the defense showed up great. I think we threw out three or four guys on the basepaths and made most of the plays and as a pitcher, that’s all you can ask for.”
Maloney left the game with the scored tied 1-1 after the Panthers scored on a George Nahabedian RBI single to score Kevin Bushnell in the second inning and the Vikings evened the score with an unearned run after Shemar Harris, who led off the inning with a walk, scored when Jimmy Gurgone reached on an error by third baseman Trent Lawrence.
Julien Hachem came on in relief for the Vikings to begin the sixth inning and allowed just one unearned run in three innings of work to earn the win. He struck out five while allowing just two hits and a hit by pitch with no walks in what manager Sullivan Stickann referred to as his “best outing of the year.”
“Felt like everything was on today and felt like he was finally in rhythm,” Stickann said of Hachem’s outing. “That’s the Julien we need, and I think he is really going to help us down the stretch.”
The Vikings trailed 2-1 entering the bottom of the sixth inning and did not have a hit to that point against Lamas. They began the sixth inning with a walk to Hobbs Dunne and two outs later put a second runner on base when Michael Carrano drew a walk of his own. That set up a prime opportunity for Will Hill, who was called on to pinch hit.
“I feel like he’s got that clutch gene,” Stickann said of his decision to pinch hit with Hill in the sixth. “Will had a clutch hit on Friday night and Saturday had a hit. It was a big spot in the game, and I thought I’d see if he could stay hot with the clutchness.”
Hill came through with the clutch hit that the Vikings needed as he hit a two-run double to give the Vikings both their first hit and their first lead of the game.
“Coming off of the bench, I was just trying to be relaxed and get a pitch that I could drive," Hill said of his approach coming off the bench. "I was just trying to get one RBI but got the two RBIs to put us ahead and secure the victory.”
The Vikings would add two more hits against the Panthers bullpen, but could not bring home an insurance run, so it was up to Brandon West in the ninth inning to protect a 3-2 lead.
West was up to the task as he worked around a single and a walk to nail down the save and send the Vikings into the Independence Day break with a winning record (15-14).
“It’s huge,” West said of the importance of the win. “Especially because we haven’t used that much pitching as well. When you think about it, we pitched just two guys on Saturday, three guys today and now we have a whole staff coming in hot going into the All-Star break and then we have another break there. So, watch out for us. It seems like we’re about to catch fire.”
The Vikings return to action on Wednesday when they host the Lake County Corn Dogs at Dowling Park. First pitch is at 5pm.
