Benton has gone 6-1 against Pinckneyville recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Monday. The Rangers will take on the Panthers at 4:30 p.m. Pinckneyville took a loss in their last match and will be looking to turn the tables on Benton, who comes in off a win.
Having struggled with 12 losses in a row, Benton turned things around against Frankfort on Friday. They walked away with a 10-6 win over the Redbirds.
Peyton Robinson spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and five unearned) runs on eight hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one walk in four consecutive appearances.
Kyle Thomas
| 04/25/25 vs Frankfort | 2 |
| 03/27/25 @ Eldorado | 2 |
| 03/22/25 vs Tuscola | 2 |
| 03/19/25 vs Centralia | 2 |
| 04/11/25 @ Nashville | 1 |
| + 4 more games |
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Kyle Thomas, who went 3-for-4 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Benton is undefeated when Thomas posts two or more runs, but 1-16 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Grant Owens, who went 2-for-3 with two runs, one double, and one RBI.
Benton was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .385. The last time their batting average was this high was back in March.
Nashville hit Pinckneyville with a eight-run third inning on Thursday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Panthers came up short against the Hornets, falling 12-2. Having soared to a lofty 19 runs in the game before, the Panthers couldn't push the score so high this time.
Pinckneyville saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Kolton Smith, who went 2-for-3 with one run.
Benton's victory was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-7 and their overall record up to 5-16. As for Pinckneyville, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four games. That's put a noticeable dent in their 10-11 record this season.
Benton couldn't quite get it done against Pinckneyville in their previous matchup last Tuesday as they fell 6-2. Can the Rangers avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
