Bella Vista waltzed into their game on Thursday with six straight wins... but they left with seven. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Antelope Titans an 8-0 shutout. Considering Bella Vista has won four contests by more than six runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Alec Murray tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and only one hit while striking out eight over six innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in three consecutive pitching appearances. Josh Sandoval came in to relieve Murray and was airtight, giving up no runs, hits or walks in his one inning pitched.
On the hitting side, Bella Vista let Catcher Luchessi and Drew Longaker loose on the outfield. Luchessi scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3, while Longaker scored two runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Chase Rasmussen, who scored two runs while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.
Bella Vista pushed their record up to 8-1 with that win, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season. Those good results were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.2 runs per game. As for Antelope, they are on a six-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 5-6.
Bella Vista will have a chance to go back-to-back against Antelope: the pair's next game is a rematch scheduled at 4:00 p.m. on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
