It was a tough weekend for Rams baseball as the team dropped both games of their home series versus long time rival Sacramento City College Panthers on Feb. 19 and 20.

Losing the first 2-1 and the second 7-1, the sweep brought Fresno’s losing streak to four games, and kept the Rams winless at home.

The first game of the series was an absolute pitchers’ duel, with Rams’ starter Matt Walker and Sac City starter Polo Partela matching each other pitch for pitch until the game reached the top of the third inning.

In the third, the Panthers broke through against Walker, scoring twice on a weak base hit by Panthers second baseman Boston Romero.

Despite his poor luck, Walker was able to limit the damage to just two and Rams head coach Ron Scott said Walker’s will to win was a big reason. “He is just a competitor.They had a two-out swinging bunt down the third base line for a cheap hit, and they got two runs,” Scott Said.

“But our problem is hitting; we just have to hit.”

Fresno was held in check all night by Partela, as he simply dominated, pitching an astounding eight and two-thirds innings and allowed zero runs,  striking out 11 Rams batters and only surrendering five hits.

Going into the bottom of the ninth, Fresno put forth their best rally of the night; center fielder Evan Steele and right fielder Logan Poisall both reached base, setting it up for designated hitter Conly Biglione.

Biglione promptly ripped a line drive single, allowing Poisall to score and advancing Steele to third base with two outs. He talked about his approach in that clutch spot in the game.

“I was just looking for an opposite field hit and I knew I had to stay on top of it,” Biglione said. “We were all popping up all game.”

Rams fans’ hearts were broken as the next batter, Fernando Galindo lined a shot to third but Jorge Perez, third baseman for the Panthers, made a leaping catch to his left to end the game and elicit a collective groan from the crowd as the Panthers celebrated on the field.

The second game was a different story as the Panthers rolled over the Rams. Fresno’s starting pitcher JJ Santa Cruz was roughed up when he surrendered four runs in the fourth inning, creating another hole that they needed to dig out of, and just like the first game, they were unable to mount any sort of comeback as the bats stayed quiet.

The team failed to score a single run after the first inning, when they scored only one and that run was unearned as an error was committed to allow a Rams batter to reach base.

Steele was optimistic about his team’s offensive capabilities and praised his pitchers’ performances. “We didn’t hit for them,” he said.

“We’ll pick it up; our pitchers have been doing well all year, so we’ll pick it up.”

Fresno will look to pick up the pieces when they begin a two game series at Hartnell on Feb. 25-26, followed by a three game series at Reedley on March 1, 3 and 5.

Scott knows what his team has to do in order to turn it around, and he believes that his offense will be key in accomplishing that goal.

“We just have to win. We have to be better offensively and try to get something going. We’re a bunch of young hitters facing good pitching.”