Vikings gain walk-off win over Lincolns

The Southland Vikings (5-6) and Illinois Lincolns (6-6) battled back and forth until the Vikings scored the winning run thanks to an error, 7-6.

Down 1-0 going into the fourth inning, Elliott Armstrong started the bottom half of the inning with a single. After stealing second while Shane Brown struck out, Steve Easter singled which scored Armstrong. After a Chris Stevens fly out, Joey Migliaccio homered to give the Vikings a 3-1 lead. Migliaccio finished going 2 for 4 with two runs and two RBIs.

The score stayed the same for the next couple innings until the seventh when the Lincolns scored three runs and took a 4-3 lead. But the Vikings answered with three RBI singles by Dan Eliopulos, Vince Parisi and Armstrong, which gave them the 6-4 advantage.

But in the eighth, Sam Hammer knocked a 2-run home run to tie the game up. Hammer went 4 for 4 with two RBIs.

In the bottom of the ninth, Eliopulos led off with a single. Then Parisi bunted the ball and Lincolns’ catcher Mike Hollenbeck overthrew the ball towards second base. Then centerfielder Conor Philbin mishandled the ball, which allowed Eliopulos to score, and the Vikings won 7-6.

While both starting pitchers had solid games, each ended with no decision. Easter picked up the win, going 1.2 innings while allowing one earned run on one hit as well as two strikeouts. The losing pitcher was Sam Welvaert.

The Vikings will be back in action tomorrow at 2 against the Will County CrackerJacks.