Vikings fall in pitchers’ duel to Liners, 3-1

Two home runs were the difference as the DeKalb County Liners (27-15) took down the Southland Vikings (18-23) who have now lost two games in a row.

The pitching was the story as both starting pitchers were stellar. Chris Chigas (3-2) started for the Vikings and went nine innings, giving up two earned runs on nine hits while striking out eight. But he was outshined by David Deliz (2-2) of the Liners who gave up one run on four hits in eight innings of work. He picked up the win while Chigas received the loss. Tanner Funke (3-5) recorded his second save.

The Liners struck first in the third inning thanks to an error by the Vikings. Erik Lockwood hit a solo home run in the eighth to extend their lead to 2-0. The Vikings struck back in the bottom of the inning when an error by the Liners allowed Tyler Willis to score from third but Elliott Armstrong was thrown out trying to score as well.

In the top of the ninth, Cody Simon added a home run to give the Liners a 3-1 lead. While A.J. Doyle reached on an error to lead off the bottom of the inning, the next three batters went down in order and the Vikings fell 3-1.

Lockwood led the way for the Liners, going 3 for 4 with one run scored and one RBI. Armstrong was the only Viking to record multiple hits. Southland now holds a two game lead over the Chicago Zephyrs (15-24) for the final playoff spot. They will face off Saturday night at Homewood-Flossmoor High School. The series between the two teams is tied at three games apiece.