ROGERS — Bentonville Nunnally Chevrolet scored 10 runs for the second straight game, but this time it needed every one of them.
Will Jibas’ sixth-inning single drove in Blake Petersen with the winning run Saturday afternoon and gave Bentonville a 10-9 victory over the Texarkana (Texas) Indians during the second day of the Rogers-Fayetteville Invitational at Veterans Park.
“We continued to hit the ball well, and that’s what we need,” Bentonville coach Kyle Blevins said. “We really don’t want to have to score 10 runs to win a game 10-9. I would rather it be 10-4 or 10-5.
“That was a good hitting team, and they weren’t going to lie down.”
Bentonville trailed 9-8 entering the sixth, but Junior Martinez drew a leadoff walk and later tied the game when he scored on Trent Hill’s sacrifice fly to deep left field. Petersen then singled and took second when Texarkana centerfielder Taylor Jones misplayed the ball.
That set the stage for Jibas, who lined a solid single to right off Taylor Burney, the third Texarkana pitcher of the game. Hill scored to put Bentonville ahead to stay.
“When we get two outs, we tend to get lackadaisical on defense,” Texarkana coach Jimmy Phillips Jr. said. “You can’t bobble the ball in the outfield two or three times and expect the guys to hold up. We’ve probably lost eight games because of that.”
Hill, who took over pitching duties in the fifth, made the lead stand by retiring the next six batters he faced, including five strikeouts. The left-hander, who took over for starter Ryan Harralston after Texarkana scored four times for a 9-8 lead, pitched a perfect 2 2/3 innings and struck out seven of the eight batters he faced.
Andrew Hagel had three hits and five RBI to lead Bentonville, and he finished a double of hitting for the cycle. He tripled in Bentonville’s first run in the first, then belted a grand slam that gave Bentonville an 8-4 lead in the fourth.
BENTONVILLE NUNNALLY CHEVROLET 10, TEXARKANA (TEXAS) INDIANS 9
Bentonville 112 402 0 — 10 13 1
Texarkana 220 140 0 — 9 10 2
Harralston, Hill (5) and Jibas; Thomas, Burney (5) and Rhone. W-Hill. L-Burney. HR-Bentonville, Hagel.
Bentonville 5, Little Rock Blues 2
Bentonville scored a run in each of the first four innings and went on to pick up its third tournament victory in as many games.
Kory Keithley broke a 1-1 tie in the second and put Bentonville (12-4) ahead to stay when his one-out single drove in Jibas, who reached with a leadoff double. Jibas finished with two of Bentonville’s five hits.
Jake Jetton scattered five hits through 6 1/3 innings to pick up the win, but he left the game after loading the bases with walks in the seventh. Hill relieved and struck out both batters he faced to record the save.
Bentonville will close out its tournament action today with a 4 p.m. game against Texarkana.
BENTONVILLE NUNNALLY CHEVROLET 5, LITTLE ROCK BLUES 2
Little Rock 100 001 0 — 2 5 3
Bentonville 111 200 X — 5 5 3
Schmidt and Bell; Jetton, Hill (7) and Jibas. W-Jetton. L-Schmidt. Sv-Hill. HR-None.