Friday’s Valley Oak League baseball finale between visiting East Union and Manteca was set to be a doozy.

The teams split the first two games of the series earlier this week by a combined score of 25-3, but when Nate Slikker induced a Lancers groundout for the final out of the game, the Buffaloes escaped with a 3-2 win in a contest that tallied just three earned runs.

“We beat each other up the first two games, and we knew today was going to be a battle,” Manteca coach Mark Ruiz said. “It was going to be a close ball game. I thought a run, maybe two and it came down to one. I’m glad we ended up on top.”

Jimmy Burns started on the mound for the Buffaloes (13-5 VOL, 20-8 overall), retiring the first 10 batters he faced and finishing with eight strikeouts against two hits, a walk, two hit batters and two earned runs.

“Coming into the game, I wanted to give my team he best chance to win,” Burns said. “Coming out here and dominating on the mound was my key goal today, and that’s what I accomplished.”

Slikker came on in the seventh for Burns, struck out the first two batters he faced and ended the game with a groundout.

“First, I want to give all glory to God,” Slikker said. “That last inning I was fired up. It’s a close game, a league series with league rivals and we were playing for a good spot in our league for playoffs.

“I was just amped up. I got the first batter, and then the second one happened and I got a little more excited and then the next batter was one pitch, one out, and it got us out quick. It was a good win. It was really good to come in and close out for our guys, especially after Jimmy (Burns) had such a great game on the mound. It was good pitching behind him.

Brody Carabello got one of the three Manteca hits. On Thursday, he led off the game with a home run on the contest’s first pitch, and on Friday he belted the second pitch he saw for a double.

“I just want to get the game started and get us in a rhythm so we can get more runs.” Carabello said.

Only one of the Buffaloes runs was earned and that was in the first inning when Carabello came in on a Devin Richardson groundout. Caleb Ortega reached on a two-base error to lead off the Manteca second and came around on a Matt Suarez single. Slikker got aboard on a lead-off error in the third and was knocked in by Ortega.

Trailing 3-0 going into the fourth, Peyton Heath (RBI, run) got East Union (11-6, 18-8) on the board when he was hit by a pitch, stole second and then took third and home on wild pitches. Jackson Fay led off the fifth for the Lancers with an infield single and scored from first on Heath’s double.

“We fought hard,” East Union coach Dan Bauer said. “It’s tough when you give up two unearned runs against a good team. You can’t give them anything free.

“We have to make a better adjustment at the plate earlier. We have to see what they are doing and how to change it up.”

Manteca now awaits playoff seeding with the post-season tournament beginning the week of May 4. The Lancers have a makeup game at Mountain House on Monday at 4 p.m.