The No. 5 seed Benton Tigers defeated No. 12 Ruston 10-0 in six innings in Game 1 of their best-of-3 non-select Division I second-round playoff series Friday at Benton.
Benton (32-3) and Ruston (25-12) are scheduled to play Game 2 at Saturday at 1 p.m. if Ruston wins, Game 3 will follow at 4.
The No. 4 seed Haughton Bucs fell to No. 20 Sulphur 2-0 in Game 1 of their non-select Division I second-round series at Haughton.
Game 2 between the Bucs (28-7) and Tors (19-18) is scheduled for Saturday at noon. If Haughton wins, the teams will face off again at 3.
At Benton, the Tigers led 3-0 after two innings. After two scoreless innings, Benton scored two in the bottom of the fifth then ended the game with five in the sixth.
Thomas Allen went the distance. He allowed just two hits, struck out eight and walked none.
Benton had eight hits and drew eight walks. Case Jorden went 2-for-2 with a home run.
Hayden Millen went 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Brody Turnipseed had a triple and drew two walks. Cole Snell, Jackson Jones and Kannon Greer had singles. Griffin Sibley drew two walks.
Turnipseed’s triple with one out got things started in the sixth. Kade Bryant drew a walk and Jorden was walked intentionally to load the bases. Millen singled and two runs scored. Snell followed with an RBI-single. Sibley walked with the bases loaded, making it 9-0. Colton Birdsong hit a pop fly in foul territory. Snell scored the final run after tagging up.
At Haughton, Sulphur scored both runs in the bottom of the first.
Haughton’s Justin Adkison pitched a complete game. He gave up only four hits after the first inning. He also went 2-for-2 with a double. Seth Jorstad went 2-for-3.
Sulphur’s Dayton Hicks also pitched a complete game. He allowed six hits, struck out five and walked two.
Jackson Beddoe and Jay Michael Stelly had two hits each.