It was a gorgeous night for baseball at Austin High, where the Bulldogs schooled Marshall 20-2 during Teacher Appreciation Night at the Ballpark. That completes the fourth straight sweep of a district opponent for the Bulldogs, and puts their District 23-5A record at 8-4, keeping them in second place. Bulldog Starting Pitcher Benn Fairbanks worked four perfect innings to earn the win – no runs, no hits, no errors, no walks, and five strikeouts – and Reliever Kevin Gelfand pitched the fifth inning to complete the no-hitter.

On the offensive side of the ledger, the Bulldogs padded the stat sheet tonight, rapping out 20 hits and logging 18 RBIs. The hit parade started in the bottom of the first, when C Drew Miller launched a shot that bounced off the right field wall on the fly, scoring SS Barrett Barnes from first who walked to start the inning. 1B Adam Shank was held to an infield single on a great stop by the Buffalo 2B Chandler, but moved up to second when the late throw got past the first baseman. Shank came around to score on LF Blake Doerr’s one-out double; Doerr scored on RF Caleb McKinney’s two-out single; McKinney scored on CF Tony Gigliotti’s triple; Gigliotti scored on Barnes’ single; Miller moved Barnes to third with his second hit of the inning; Shank singled to score Barnes; and 3B Scott Viktorin singled to score Miller, making the score 9-0 after one inning of play.

Doerr and Rockett opened the bottom of the second inning with back-to-back singles, and 2B Andrew Keplinger loaded the bases with a misplayed grounder to short. Back-to-back RBI groundouts by McKinney and Gigliotti brought home Doerr and Rockett, with Keplinger scoring later on a passed ball to run the score to 12-0 after two. A walk and a balk put Shank at second to start the bottom of the third; he came around to score on Viktorin’s single. Viktorin moved to third on Doerr’s third hit of the night, then scored on a balk to limit the damage to two runs, but making the score 14-0 after three.

The Bulldogs would bat around again in the bottom of the fourth. CF Aaron Marcynuk got things started with a leadoff single, moved to third on an error and a passed ball, and scored on Barnes’ misplayed fly ball to right; Barnes scored on C Kyle Garoni’s single; Shank followed with a double to right-center; and Viktorin singled to score Garoni. LF Matt Baughman then singled sharply to right, driving in Shank and Viktorin. Baughman would come around to score on Keplinger’s RBI grounder, making the score 20-0 after four.

Marshall gamely hung in there and battled Reliever Kevin Gelfand in the top of the fifth. PH Newbill was hit-by-pitch leading off the inning, and was still at first two outs later. LF Turner then worked a full-count walk, fouling off three two-strike pitches in the process. Marshall’s next batter, SS Patterson then caught the Bulldog outfield playing too shallow, and launched a two-strike fly ball into center field that hit the ground for a two-run two-base error. That would be it for the scoring, though, with the Bulldogs comfortably on top 20-2.

Next up for the Bulldogs will be a road trip to Hightower on Saturday at 2 p.m., for their only regular season contest this year with the Hurricanes.

Bulldog Offensive Highlights:

· 20 hits for the Bulldogs, 5 for extra bases: A double and two singles for 1B Adam Shank and LF Blake Doerr; 3 singles for 3B Scott Viktorin; a double and a single for C Drew Miller; two singles for DH Daniel Rockett; a double for RF Travis Goodrich; and a single each for SS Barrett Barnes, RF Caleb McKinney, CF Tony Gigliotti, C Kyle Garoni, LF Matt Baughman, and CF Aaron Marcynuk.

· 18 RBIs on the game: 3 for Viktorin; 2 each for Barnes, Shank, McKinney, Gigliotti, and Baughman; and 1 each for Miller, Doerr, Rockett, Garoni, and 2B Andrew Keplinger.

Bulldog Pitching Highlights:

· Benn Fairbanks (3-1, 2-1), 4 innings, 5 K’s, 0 BB, 0 hits, 0 runs

· Kevin Gelfand, 1 inning, 2 K’s, 2 BB’s, 0 hits, 2 unearned runs

Bulldog Defensive Highlight:

· 2B Andrew Keplinger had the hot glove tonight, making the 4-3 putout for 5 of the 8 fielding outs. On the last out in the fourth, it looked like Kep had snagged a line drive before it hit the dirt, but not getting the out call, he alertly completed the play to first.

Winning Pitcher: Benn Fairbanks (3-1, 2-1)

Losing Pitcher: Fuller

Extra Base Hits, FB Austin: Triple – Gigliotti; Doubles – Miller, Shank, Doerr, Goodrich

Score by inning: