Alcantara, Hauschild sharp in duel

Raul Alcantara dominated after a bumpy first inning, matching Mike Hauschild pitch for pitch in a duel that, for much of Monday afternoon, featured just one hit from either dugout.

Alcantara allowed one hit over six innings before Brent Powers and Ryan Dull combined on three hitless frames to help the Class A Beloit Snappers edge Hauschild and the Quad Cities River Bandits, 4-1, on Monday afternoon.

Alcantara, the Oakland Athletics' No. 4 right-handed prospect, struck out six and held the Bandits to an unearned run in his ninth start of the season. Although he did not pick up a win, the effort was the third time this season that Alcantara has thrown at leasts six innings and allowed only one hit -- he turned in a pair of seven-inning gems on April 9 and May 10, both against Peoria.

Hauschild started for Quad Cities and was just as sharp -- he took a no-hitter into the sixth, when he handed his gem over to the Bandits' bullpen. The right-hander, a 33rd-round pick last summer out of the University of Dayton, struck out five, walked two and has allowed just one earned run over his last three starts.

Quad Cities' lone run of the game came in the first inning when Teoscar Hernandez led off the frame with a single to center, stole second, advanced to third on a fielding error by second baseman Chris Bostick and scored on Rio Ruiz's sacrifice fly to center. Alcantara escaped the inning when Miles Hamblin, who reached on the error, was thrown out trying to steal second.

Thereafter, Alcantara was untouchable. He struck out Ariel Ovando and Austin Elkins looking to end the second, whiffed two more to end the third, worked around an error and a wild pitch in the fourth, tossed a 1-2-3 fifth and pitched a perfect sixth, retiring Carlos Correa, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 Draft, on a fly out to right to end his day.

The Snappers themselves failed to manage a base hit until Hauschild took a seat in favor of reliever Colton Cain (acquired by Houston in the Pirates' trade for Wandy Rodriguez in 2012) to start the sixth. Ryan Mathews and Brett Vertigan hit consecutive singles and Daniel Robertson was beaned by Cain to load the bases for Bruce Maxwell, who's fielder's choice grounder to third allowed Mathews to come home and knot the game at 1-1. The Snappers took the lead in the eighth on Chad Lewis' RBI single, and the A's Midwest League affiliate added two more runs in the ninth on Renato Nunez's two-run single.

Powers (2-0) picked up the win after striking out three and walked two in a pair of frames before Dull earned his sixth save with two strikeouts in the ninth.

Alcantara is 5-1 with a 2.81 ERA and 31 sttikeouts over 51 1/3 innings at Beloit this season. He's allowed two earned runs or fewer in seven of his last eight starts and won four consecutive outings from April 22-May 10. He was acquired by the Athletics with outfielder Josh Reddick and infielder Miles Head from the Boston Red Sox for pitcher Andrew Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney on Dec. 28, 2011, and now ranks as the organization's No. 11 prospect.