JOURNAL SPORTS

DENHAM SPRINGS – Benton’s baseball team has been here before, just last week.

The Tigers rallied after losing the first game of their state quarterfinal series with Sulphur, and took the next two games.

No. 5-seeded Benton will need to rally to get past top-ranked Live Oak and reach the state Non-Select Division I finals after falling 3-0 in a pitchers’ duel in Game 1 of the semifinals Thursday night.

Live Oak used a squeeze bunt to grab an early edge, then tacked on two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.

The Eagles and 6-foot-6 right-hander Sawyer Pruitt didn’t need the extra padding. Pruitt overmatched the Tigers, striking out 11 and allowing only two hits in a complete game performance.

Benton (35-5) and Live Oak (31-6) tangle in Game 2 of the series today at 6. If the Tigers prevail, a decisive third game will be played Saturday afternoon at 1.

Benton didn’t get its first hit until the fifth inning when Brody Turnipseed knocked a two-out single that sparked a Tiger threat. A walk and a hit batsman filled the bases, but Pruitt notched a strikeout to preserve Live Oak’s lead.

The Eagles used another squeeze bunt and an RBI single to extend the margin to 3-0 in the sixth. The Tigers’ Griffin Sibley led off the visitors’ last chance with a base hit, but Pruitt, who is headed to UL Lafayette to pitch next season, struck out the next three batters to finish off Benton.

Travis Allen was tough on the bump for Benton. The UL Monroe signee scattered five hits, struck out five, and walked two to keep the Tigers close.