The men’s baseball team hit off the season with three back-to-back wins, defeating the Shasta College Knights 9-1 on Friday, 12-1 on Saturday and 17-2 on Monday.

Sophomore pitcher Michael Freitas took the mound for the Hawks on opening day and pitched five shutout innings. Freitas allowed two hits, two walks and struck out five batters.

“We’ve been able to do certain things to make sure that everyone is prepared for the season,” said Head Coach Don Mico. “More than anything, it’s just making sure that we just do what we need to do and we don’t worry about the other team.”

Mico said the team needs to continue making great pitches and getting key hits.

“I just wanted to come out here and compete as best as I could and hopefully give my team a better chance of getting a win today,” Freitas said.

Sophomore shortstop Griffin Harrison put the Hawks on the board with an RBI double in the bottom of the second inning.

“We knew that they were starting a left handed pitcher so we set the pitching machine for a left handed curveball just to see the different spin because we see a lot of right-handed pitchers,” Harrison said.

The Hawks’ had their biggest inning at the top of the third, led off by a homerun from freshman center fielder Chase Christenson.

Sophomore first baseman Cameron Orr added a run in the fourth inning with a sacrifice fly to make the score 9-0.

Orr finished 2-for-3 with two hits, two runs and one RBI.

“We have to keep putting pressure on them,” Mico said. “We can’t stop and think the game is over because it’s baseball, things can change pitch by pitch.”

The team took the second game of the series on Saturday, winning 12-1. The Hawks started scoring early and had a 4-0 lead before the Knights got their first run at the top of the third inning.

Freshman pitcher Ben Pernetti scored at the bottom of the third to answer the Knights. The fourth inning went scoreless by both teams, but the Hawks found three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, by Orr, Pernetti and sophomore outfielder Jack Moore. They finished the fifth inning 8-1.

The Hawks scored four more runs through the last three innings to finalize their victory at 12-1.

The team also faced the Knights away at Shasta on Monday and one that game with a lopsided score of 17-2. They are set to face the Mendocino College Eagles at home on Thursday at 1 p.m.

“We have a long season ahead of us so we’ll take the win, wins are always important and hopefully we can fight for a state championship which we try to do every year,” Mico said.