It was one day shy of exactly a year ago, and nearly an identical score, the Rangers defeated the Redlegs for the second straight MVABL Opening Day. Last year, the Rangers recorded a 17-4 romp of the Redlegs. This time around, the dust settled on a 17-5 final after 8 innings.

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Joe Becker toed the rubber for his 7th Opening Day start and was paired up against former Rangers' righty Ben Schooler. Both hurlers blanked the offense in the first inning. In the top of the second, Redlegs catcher Joey Watson smoked a single to left field scoring Matt Mattice. A good relay from Eric Becker in left to Cooper Nolte at shortstop, resulted in Nolte throwing at Chris Flaherty attempting to score. 

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In the bottom of the third, the Rangers started their rally as the lineup turned over for the second time. With one out, Rob Pederson lined his second single of the day. The newest Ranger, Brandon Ward, reached on an error. After Schooler punched out Markus Neff for the second out, Nolte and Nick Gilmore singled in succession to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead. A double steal of second and home produced the third and final tally of the inning.

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Becker worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth, inducing a groundout to third to thwart any scoring opportunity for the Redlegs. The Rangers filled up the box score in the bottom of the inning, scoring 7 times for a 10-1 advantage. Scoring kicked off with a bases-loaded single by Pederson, followed by a HBP to Ward. Neff blooped one into center to score another. Nolte and Gilmore singled again to score a run apiece. Two more came homeward on a throwing error.

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After the elongated inning, and a walk and a single served up in the top of the 5th, Joe Becker was relieved by Eric Becker. The Redlegs were able to score three runs to cut into the Rangers lead at 10-4. The Rangers got two of the runs back on a 2-run double by Pederson in the bottom half of the inning. The Redlegs countered with a run of their own in the sixth to make it 12-5.

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The hitting onslaught continued in the bottom of the 7th as Eric Becker led off with a double and Pederson followed with his 5th hit of the day. Ward drove home Becker with a single. Nolte plated Pederson with a double, and Ward scored on Gilmore's fielder's choice as the Rangers built a 16=5 lead.

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Markus Neff made his season debut on the mound in the 8th and produced three flyouts. The run-rule was completed as Ward came through with a run-scoring single to score Grant Kincaid in the bottom of the 8th for a 17-5 victory.

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Joe Becker struck out 2, but unfortunately couldn't make it out of the 5th inning to qualify for the win. However, Eric Becker was just as effective in relief, going 3 innings and striking out 3 to earn the victory.