Pitchers from New Franklin and Glasgow dealt out the strikeouts, combining to retire 26 batters on strikes in Thursday’s six-and-a-half-inning game at Glasgow.

The hits were far and few between, with even fewer walks. But Glasgow managed to pick up runs in each of the first, third, and fifth innings while delivering shutout innings on defense.

The starters put on a pitching clinic from the hill, with New Franklin junior Lane Hackman striking out 13 of 27 batters faced. The righty allowed one earned run on four hits and two walks. But Hackman’s masterful pitching was overshadowed by five defensive errors committed on the night, allowing two unearned runs to cross the plate.

“Lane did a great job on the bump and Nolan McGowan behind the plate,” said New Franklin coach Erich Gerding. “Outside of that, it was a pretty uninspiring effort for the most part. We showed glimpses of fight, but it just wasn’t consistent enough.”

The first two errors occurred in the bottom of the first with two outs. Junior Bronson Foster reached and advanced to second on an infield error. He ran to third on a passed ball, then scored on the second error of the inning.

Glasgow scored again in the bottom of the third. With two outs, senior Nathan Prentzler doubled on a line drive to center. He was driven home on a ground ball single by senior AJ Westhues to put the Jackets ahead by two runs.

The final run came by way of an RBI double from Westhues to drive in Prentzler in the bottom of the fifth.

“Credit to Glasgow for putting the bat on the ball more than we did, but we are better than this. I have to do a better job of getting us ready to compete,” Gerding said.

On defense, the sure-handed Jackets held New Franklin scoreless behind the arm of senior Jackson Strodtman, who struck out 10 of 24 batters over six shutout innings. He allowed just two hits and surrendered three walks.

Prentzler struck out the side to close out the game in the seventh, retiring all three batters faced with strikes.

Batting cleanup, Westhues led the Jackets with two hits in three at-bats, including a double and three RBI. Prentzler went 1-for-2 with a double, a walk, and two runs scored. Junior Hunter Hammons rounded out the hitting with a single in a 1-for-3 performance.

Now 4-2 overall, the Bulldogs had five days to regroup before hosting Sturgeon on Tuesday night. The Bulldogs then travel to eighth-ranked Cairo on Thursday before returning home Saturday for games against Salisbury and Northwest at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. respectively.

With the win, Glasgow improved to 3-1 on the season. Weekend games at Wellington-Napoleon were canceled due to rain. The Jackets travel to Fayette tonight (Wednesday) for a 5 p.m. game against the Falcons.