he Benton Panthers picked up two wins Monday to reach the semifinals of the Central Arkansas Invitational, which are to be played at Panthers Field today at 5:30 p.m. against Conway. The Panthers handled the Alma Airedales 11-1 in the first round Monday before beating the Little Rock Christian Warriors 6-2 in the quarterfinals at Panthers Field in Benton.
Fresh off their 11-0 win against Alma, the Panthers’ offense stayed hot against the Warriors with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Leadoff man and starting pitcher Chase Nix singled to start, sophomore Drew Chilton sacrifice bunted him to second base, and Nix stole third and scored on an error. Twin brother Colten Nix singled, stole second and third, and scored on senior catcher Brinson Williams’ sacrifice fly for the 2-0 lead.
With two productive outs for the Panthers, senior UCA commit Drew Dyer doubled to right field and came around to score on senior Jack Jumper’s single to right for the 3-0 lead after one.