The Hawks’ baseball team defeated the Sacramento City College Panthers 6-5 on Friday.

The Hawks struggled early, falling behind 4-1 in the third inning but managed to battle back later in the game.

“The game is never in our hands,” said Head Coach Don Mico. “Sac City is a good team and we just have to battle every pitch to get the last out, so the game was never in our hands.”

The Panthers scored a run in the first inning, the Hawks following up with a run of their own in the bottom of the first. Freshman pitcher Brian Freitas struggled, giving up two homers and three runs before being pulled for sophomore Kyle Galart in the third inning.

“Honestly, I think the biggest pat on the back was my team staying on me and telling me to keep pitching and doing my thing and just try to get out anyway you can,” said Freitas.

The fifth inning saw the start of a comeback from the Hawks when sophomore center fielder Burle Dixon singled and was followed by a walk from sophomore Dean Lucas.

With the two runners on, sophomore Greg Creamer hit a double knocking in Dixon and Lucas, bringing the Hawks to with in one run of the Panthers.

Galart continued to dominate the Panthers, shutting them out through his first five innings in relief.

The Hawks pulled ahead when Dixon, freshman Essex Brown and sophomore Clay Duval all scored in the sixth.

Dixon doubled, driving in Brown and Duval. Dixon then scored when Lucas tripled.

“We started battling back in the sixth and seventh innings,” said Galart. “We put up a couple runs here and there. We kind of turned the tables on them and put the pressure back on the other team and competed to get the win from Sac City.”

In the top of the ninth, the Panthers finally broke through with a run against Galart. Freshman Griffin Selby then came into the game to record the last two outs and get the save.

“I think our team worked great together,” said Freitas. “From being down some runs and just coming together and fighting and finding a way to win the game.”