The Diablo Valley College Softball team came into their game against Ohlone on Tuesday with high hopes to expand their 3-2 record. Instead, they faced a harsh 9-0 defeat.

“(Ohlone) is a good team, they beat us at the super regionals two years ago and beat us in the regionals last year, ” said Head coach Dennis Luquet.  “So we knew they’d be good and what to expect. Our problem is pitching, it needs to get better, we just need more strikes and to get the balls down because the ball is up high and that’s why (Ohlone) is hitting it out to the fence.”

Ohlone began the game with high energy and raucous cheers that continued throughout the entire game. The Vikings starting pitcher  Summer Throne got one strikeout in the first inning. Ohlone started strong with a three-point lead in the first inning, making it difficult for the Vikings to recover.

“We just gave up such a big lead starting the game that it made it hard to recover,” said Luquet. “We played foothill who is better than (Ohlone) and we beat them 4-3 so this just wasn’t a good effort. Effort was our biggest problem today.”

The second inning the Vikings substituted the starting pitcher with freshman Taylar McCullough. With a walk and two hits the bases were loaded when McCullough gave up another walk making the score 0-4. A ground ball to third got the Vikings their first out and Ohlone another run into the home plate. Sophomore Kathryn Cassin hits a ground ball making it to first and stole bases to make it to third.

In the third inning, McCullough started strong with a strikeout getting their first out. With two hits and a walk, the bases are loaded bring another walk into home. A strong hit to the outfield got Ohlone another run in, putting the score at 0-8. Freshman Gabriela Arzaga twisted her ankle while jumping for a ball as Ohlone slid into second base. As a result, the line up was changed, moving Hannah Wong from center field to second base.

“We are better than what we played today…our energy just wasn’t there.” said Arzaga.

According to Arzaga, Ohlone’s behavior intimidated the Vikings and caused them to lose focus on their responsibilities during the game.

During the fourth inning the Vikings got three outs on the first three at bats. In the fifth and final inning, Ohlone scored one more run ending the game 0-9.

“We are just looking forward to the next game and learning from our mistakes today,” Arzaga said.

The Vikings next home game will be Feb. 21 at 3 p.m. against Cabrillo College.