The Hawks baseball team beat Diablo Valley College 7-3 on Thursday after previously losing to them 4-2 on Feb. 25.

The game started off on a slow start with DVC ahead 3-2 for three innings. Sophomore catcher Noah Canter hit a homerun in the top of the fifth inning to tie the game. Nikolas Rostak, a freshman pitcher, pitched from the third until the sixth inning and faced 19 batters.

“I think they had their ups and downs but they did what they’ve done all year long and came through when it mattered most,” said assistant coach Scott Haynes.

Sophomore Angelo Luna, designated hitter, hit a single scoring the runner at third putting the Hawks ahead in the fifth inning. The score remained at 4-3 until the top of the eighth inning, where the Hawks then scored three runs, keeping the lead until the end of the game.

Rostak allowed two hits, had five strikeouts and prevented any runs for the five innings he pitched.

“We were down, so I was just trying to get zeros across the board and get the boys back to hit and do that as fast as possible,” Rostak said.

Despite their loss against DVC on Feb. 25, the team took Wednesday’s practice to refocus and prepare themselves for Thursday’s game, Canter said.

“It was to make sure that we didn’t become complacent and to make sure that we kept trying to score runs instead of just letting up, kinda how we did the game before,” said freshman shortstop Alan Quirarte-Guzman.

With bases loaded, freshman left fielder Donovan Coleman hit a single, scoring the runner at third. On a passed ball, freshman right fielder Angelo Nunes scored. The Hawks jumped to a 7-3 score after Canter hit a grounder to the second baseman allowing Ryan Dechaine, sophomore shortstop, to score from third.

Freshman pitcher Jacob Schreiber came in to close the last inning handing over three strikeouts to the Vikings to finish the game.
The Hawks won their first series of the season, beating DVC on Friday 11-2.

The team plays their next game on Tuesday against Santa Rosa College at home.

“With coach Mico going out we have coach Haynes, coach Preston, coach Trevor, coach Harv and coach No coming out here to make us better everyday,” Canter said. “We are extremely grateful to have these guys and it’s a blessing.”