The Sunny Hills Lancers fell behind early in Friday’s game against Fullerton and couldn’t find a way back. The Indians beat the Lancers 7-1 in the opening of Freeway League play.

The Indians looked poised to take the lead early when they put runners on first and second base but Lancers pitcher Joshua Dibble was able to force a ground out to keep them off the scoreboard.

Fullerton pitcher Michael Coppens had a strong performance for the Indians.

The senior allowed a hit early but made two strikeouts in the first inning to keep the Lancers (8-2) scoreless.

At the top of the second inning, the Indians (7-2) took the lead through an double by senior Justin Kim that drove in a run.

The next few innings saw pitching and defense by both teams overpower each other’s offense.

Dibble only allowed one run and struck out two batters before being replaced after three innings.

Coppens continued his early form and pitched a shutout through four innings.

Fullerton took advantage of a pair of pitching errors by the Lancers in the fifth inning to extend its lead.

With the bases loaded Lancers pitcher Enoch Kim had trouble keeping his composure and threw a wild pitch which allowed Justin Kim to score.

The sophomore pitcher had another lapse of composure mere moments later and threw another wild pitch which allowed another Indians player to score.

Fullerton added another run in the fifth through a sacrifice fly by Hector Garcia to make the game 4-0.

The Lancers were kept silent offensively for most of the game but did manage to break out of their scoreless form in the bottom of the fifth.

A double by Junior Jaewoo Park drove in a run to spark the Lancers comeback attempts.

Though Park sparked the Lancers comeback efforts, he also ended their inning when a moment of indecision trapped him between second and third base.

Park tried to steal third after a groundout but paused on his way and shortly after found himself in a pickle.

With both bases well covered the junior was tagged out and the inning ended.

Pitching troubles dogged the Lancers into the sixth inning.

In addition to hitting a batter and giving up a base hit Kim threw two more wild pitches including one that led to a Fullerton score.

As the game entered the final inning the Indians added more to their tally through a base hit from Justin Kim and a double by Paul Lee which each drove in a run.

Pitcher Raul Herrada came into the game in the final inning to close the game out and did just that by making quick work of the Lancers by getting three straight outs,

“Our pitchers were a little inconsistent, had a few wild pitches and fastballs that were costly, cost us about three or four runs so [it’s] just something we need to work on,” said Lancers Manager Arlie Kearney.

The Lancers will look to bounce back from the defeat when they visit Troy on Tuesday to take on the Warriors in a non-league game.