Valencia's first road game of the spring started well and got away in a hurry. The Vikings struck first in the top of the first, when Justin Gaisford doubled and Evan Conrad singled him home for a 1-0 lead, and they loaded the bases before the inning ended.

Then came the bottom of the second. Paraclete sent the order around for eight runs, a rally kept alive by three Valencia errors that turned what could have been outs into a long inning. Most of the damage was unearned: of the ten runs Paraclete scored on the day, only one was charged as earned.

To their credit, the Vikings steadied. After the second, Andrew Gomez and Charles Goodman combined for four innings of relief, allowing just one unearned run and striking out four, with Goodman retiring the side in order in the fifth and working a clean sixth. The arms gave Valencia a chance to settle even on a rough morning.

Evan Conrad was the bright spot at the plate, going 2-for-2 with the team's lone RBI, and Gaisford added a double and a run. Paraclete starter Mason Jacobo went into the sixth with six strikeouts to keep Valencia's bats quiet after the first. A cleaner day in the field, and this one looks very different on the scoreboard.