BENTON — The Benton Panthers swept Beebe in a doubleheader March 17, winning 5-0 and 6-0 to improve to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
In Game 1, Benton recorded seven hits and committed one error. Caleb Curry drove in a run, while Blake Mitchum threw a complete-game one-hitter with 10 strikeouts, narrowly missing a no-hitter. Beebe finished with one hit and three errors.
In Game 2, Benton’s offense was paced by multiple contributors. Sawyer Wilson and Curry each had an RBI, and Easton Snellings drove in three runs. Evin Campbell threw a complete-game no-hitter, allowing one walk and striking out 10.
Benton head coach Mark Ballisteri praised both pitching performances.
“It was just a great night to be a Benton Panther and be at the ballpark. We get an opportunity to see two pitchers do what they did in each one of the games, which you don’t get to see very often,” Ballisteri said. “In Game 1, Blake Mitchem threw a one-hitter; he was one batter away from a perfect game as well. He didn’t walk anybody. He had given up one hit and had 10 strikeouts. On defense, what comes to mind is Landen Pelkey made a diving catch in center field. We did everything we needed to do to help him out. We had a couple of key hits, and we scored five runs and did a great job.
“In Game 2, Evin Campbell stole the show from everybody. He went into the bottom of the seventh inning with a no-hitter and a perfect game on the line. At the top of the seventh inning, we scored four runs, and we had a two-to-nothing lead going into the seventh. We scored four in the top of the seventh, and it was about a 20-minute inning. It was kind of cold last night. We knew it was going to be tough for him to come back off the bench, sitting there for that long. He ends up walking the lead-off batter in the top of the seventh, and then he gets the next three guys out to throw a no-hitter. So he was one batter away from a perfect game. But still, he did something that’s pretty historic in baseball, throwing a no-hitter. It just doesn’t happen very often.”
Benton will travel to Lake Hamilton today, with first pitch set for 5 p.m.