Baseball Game Preview: Harrisburg Bulldogs vs. Benton Rangers

The Harrisburg Bulldogs will venture away from home to square off against the Benton Rangers at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Harrisburg will be strutting in after a victory while Benton will be coming in after a defeat.

Harrisburg had to skate by with only a two-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the 14-run drubbing they dealt Pinckneyville on Friday. The Bulldogs blew past the Panthers 17-3. The result was nothing new for the Bulldogs, who have now won 12 contests by six runs or more so far this season.

Xander Robinson was a standout: he got on base in all four of his plate appearances with three RBI and two runs. Aidan Hankins was another key player, going 2-for-3 with three runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.

Harrisburg always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .583. The last time their OBP was this high was back in April of 2024.

The home team had won the previous five meetings between Benton and Carterville, and Carterville kept the tradition alive. The Rangers lost 11-1 to the Lions on Friday. The Rangers haven't had much luck with the Lions recently, as the team has come up short the last four times they've met.

Harrisburg has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 18-10 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.1 runs on average over those games. As for Benton, their loss dropped their record down to 7-19.

Everything went Harrisburg's way against Benton in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, as Harrisburg made off with an 11-1 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Bulldogs since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.