No Scrimmage no Problem, Riders Run Rule the Mavericks on Opening day.

GILLETTE, Wyo. — The Rough Riders opened their season with a statement, cruising to a 17-0 win over Miles City on Saturday at home — all without having played a scrimmage.

Most teams get at least one live scrimmage under their belt before opening day, but snowy weather prevented that for the Riders. Despite the lack of preseason reps, head coach Nate Perleberg was impressed with his team’s performance at the plate.

“First time seeing live pitching and to come out and swing it the way we did today — really pleased by that,” Perleberg said. “The first couple of arms we saw were competitive guys, but we were able to put good swings on the ball earlier rather than later in the game.”

Jarrett Black got the start on the mound for the Riders and worked out of a jam in the first inning after hitting two batters — C.J. Lang and Cade Erlenbusch — which helped load the bases following a single by Rylin Gentry. Black escaped without damage, getting Bryson Hurley to ground out.

That was the only time Black faced serious trouble. He struck out two batters in the second inning and, despite a dropped third strike allowing Connor Kuchynka to reach base, got Warren Venable to ground out to end the inning. Black finished with four strikeouts and earned the win.

The Riders’ offense was red-hot, recording 16 hits — four of them for extra bases. Every starter in the lineup had at least one hit, and seven players drove in runs. Seth Petersen also swiped his first base of the season after tallying 50 a year ago.

Gillette’s bats came alive with two-out rallies in both the third and fourth innings. The Riders scored five runs in the first, eight in the second, one in the third and three more in the fourth to cushion the lead.

“Lots of good things with two outs. I also thought two-strike hitting was good today,” Perleberg said. “We had a lot of guys that went deep into counts — seven, eight, even nine pitches.”

The 17-0 shutout is the Riders’ first of the season and ranks third in program history for margin of victory in a shutout. The second-largest came in 2021, an 18-0 win over the Jackson Giants. The largest was a 19-0 victory over Rapid City Central, also in 2021.

Gillette will look to build on its momentum in its next matchup against the 2-0 Spearfish Spartans.