Baseball Game Preview: Benton Panthers vs. Russellville Cyclones

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Previous Games

02/28/23 - Home	5-1 W
03/05/22 - Home	9-6 W
03/11/21 - Away	10-6 W
03/10/20 - Home	9-5 W
05/10/19 - Neutral	9-0 W
+ 2 more games

Benton is 6-1 against Russellville since May of 2015 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Thursday. Benton will host Russellville at 9:00 a.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Benton 2.9, Russellville 2.1) so any runs scored will be well earned.

Benton is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Arkansas' top teams: Beebe, who was ranked 12th at the time (Benton was ranked third). Benton walked away with a 6-3 victory over Beebe last Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Russellville entered their tilt with Riverside on Tuesday with two consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with three. They put the hurt on the Rebels with a sharp 10-2 win. Russellville's victory was all the more impressive since the Rebels were averaging only 2.82 runs allowed on the season.

Russellville's win was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 6-2. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.2 runs on average over those games. As for Benton, their win bumped their record up to 5-2.

Benton beat Russellville 5-1 in their previous meeting back in February of 2023. Does Benton have another victory up their sleeve, or will Russellville turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.