In baseball or any other sport it’s always a good idea to get off to a good start.

Lawton MacArthur scored the first seven runs of the game and defeated the Altus High Bulldogs 12-6 here Tuesday afternoon.

The Highlanders pounded out 16 hits and took advantage of five Altus errors.

There were some bright spots for the Bulldogs. They turned three double plays and catcher Brandon Ybarra threw out a runner trying to steal.

It was Ybarra that provided the big hit of the game for the Bulldogs. He clouted a three run homer in the sixth inning of the contest. It was his second round tripper of the year.

Altus also got a run scoring single from Dillon Ridley and a run-scoring single from Zack Neely.

Sinjin Cramer had two hits in three trips to the plate. Kaleb Evans, Ridley, Neely and Ybarra had one hit each.

The loss dropped the Bulldogs season record to 7-6.

They will enter the Southern Oklahoma Invitational Tournament at Duncan on Thursday.

They will play Noble at 2:30 p.m. and host Duncan at 5 p.m.

Saturday the Bulldogs will meet Cache at noon and Blanchard at 2:30 p.m.