BETHEL – Blanchester outlasted Bethel-Tate Friday 5-4 in SBAAC National Division baseball action.

The Wildcats even their record at 3-3 while improving to 2-0 in the conference.

Brody Rice, a freshman for the Wildcats, went the distance on the mound, striking out seven in seven innings.

“What a gutsy performance,” BHS coach Aaron Lawson said of Rice. “He struggled a bit in the third and fourth (innings) but then really found it late and continued to get stronger. He was pin-point the last couple innings which is what really led the charge and allowed him to go the distance.”

Preston Griffin had two hits and drove in a run for BHS. Brant Bandow had a hit and RBI. Rice doubled in the victory.

“We had one bad inning (offensively),” said Lawson. “We had bases loaded and no outs in the second and had three straight Ks. Other than that, we put the ball in play hard and good things happened.”

The Tigers took advantage of a couple of BHS throwing errors to score three runs, Lawson said.