Getting outside to play games seemed to pick up the spirits of the Butler Grizzlies in their first league doubleheader of the season Friday at Stanion Field against the Pratt Beavers.
The Grizzlies were able to keep the Beavers from scoring in a 3-0 victory in the opener, then scored nine in the first inning of the nightcap on the way to a 17-6 sweep.
"Anytime you go on the road in this conference and get a first day sweep is a great accomplishment," said Butler coach Steve Johnson. "Everybody in this conference can play and every atmosphere is tough.
"We've been outdoors for four straight days and I hope this is a signal that the guys are getting comfortable a little bit."
Two pitchers combined for the four-hit shutout in the opener. Sophomore Connor Sinclair pitched the first six innings, giving up three hits and two walks while striking out nine to record the win. Brett Macari threw the seventh for the save for the Grizzlies.
"Connor, no doubt, shoed that he is a sophomore leader in the first game," Johnson said. "He battled and pitched out of a second and third situation. He set the tempo for the game."
The Grizzlies got on the board in the top of the first inning on a RBI single by Marc Waldron. Butler's other two runs in the opener came off of escaping base-running blunders.
The first came in the fifth when Cameron Stallings was able to score from third to home as he beat the throw home after Sheldon Howell had gotten caught in a rundown between second and third. The second came when Brennan Murphy scored as Stallings was being tagged out between first and second.
The nightcap saw the floodgates open after the first Butler run in the opening inning after a throwing error to home allowed Howell to score with the with the bases loaded. Thirteen men went to the plate for the Grizzlies as Waldron and Chris Kennedy hit two-run singles, J.C. Ochoa, Stallings and Macari hit RBI singles, and Howell hit a RBI sacrifice fly in his second at-bat of the inning.
Pratt cut the lead down to 9-5 by the bottom of the third. Joe Kornbrust hit a first inning home run and a second inning RBI double, Skyler Sumner hit a RBI triple in the second and RBI single in the third and a RBI sacrifice fly by Tucker Neal in the second.
"We really jumped on them in the first inning, then we had a little lull," Johnson said.
Michael Patman pushed the Grizzlies into double digit scoring with a RBI double in the fourth, and Butler made Kyle Kinman hit a RBI double in the fifth to make the score 11-5.
Zach Sell hit a RBI double for Pratt in the bottom of the sixth before Butler batted around again in the seventh to score six runs: four on a grand slam by Patman and two on a throwing error trying to pick off Howell at third base after a groundout.
Trevor Kill pitched 4 1/3 innings of relief to pick up the win for the Grizzlies. striking out two, while allowing one run and two hits in his time on the mound. The game ended after the seventh inning on the 10-run rule. The second game of Jayhawk Conference doubleheaders are now nine innings.
"Trevor came in and finished strong and was able to finish the game early," Johnson said. "With the extended weekend where we play nine in the second game, finishing early really helped us."
|
|
|
Getting outside to play games seemed to pick up the spirits of the Butler Grizzlies in their first league doubleheader of the season Friday at Stanion Field against the Pratt Beavers.
The Grizzlies were able to keep the Beavers from scoring in a 3-0 victory in the opener, then scored nine in the first inning of the nightcap on the way to a 17-6 sweep.
"Anytime you go on the road in this conference and get a first day sweep is a great accomplishment," said Butler coach Steve Johnson. "Everybody in this conference can play and every atmosphere is tough.
"We've been outdoors for four straight days and I hope this is a signal that the guys are getting comfortable a little bit."
Two pitchers combined for the four-hit shutout in the opener. Sophomore Connor Sinclair pitched the first six innings, giving up three hits and two walks while striking out nine to record the win. Brett Macari threw the seventh for the save for the Grizzlies.
"Connor, no doubt, shoed that he is a sophomore leader in the first game," Johnson said. "He battled and pitched out of a second and third situation. He set the tempo for the game."
The Grizzlies got on the board in the top of the first inning on a RBI single by Marc Waldron. Butler's other two runs in the opener came off of escaping base-running blunders.
The first came in the fifth when Cameron Stallings was able to score from third to home as he beat the throw home after Sheldon Howell had gotten caught in a rundown between second and third. The second came when Brennan Murphy scored as Stallings was being tagged out between first and second.
The nightcap saw the floodgates open after the first Butler run in the opening inning after a throwing error to home allowed Howell to score with the with the bases loaded. Thirteen men went to the plate for the Grizzlies as Waldron and Chris Kennedy hit two-run singles, J.C. Ochoa, Stallings and Macari hit RBI singles, and Howell hit a RBI sacrifice fly in his second at-bat of the inning.
Pratt cut the lead down to 9-5 by the bottom of the third. Joe Kornbrust hit a first inning home run and a second inning RBI double, Skyler Sumner hit a RBI triple in the second and RBI single in the third and a RBI sacrifice fly by Tucker Neal in the second.
"We really jumped on them in the first inning, then we had a little lull," Johnson said.
Michael Patman pushed the Grizzlies into double digit scoring with a RBI double in the fourth, and Butler made Kyle Kinman hit a RBI double in the fifth to make the score 11-5.
Zach Sell hit a RBI double for Pratt in the bottom of the sixth before Butler batted around again in the seventh to score six runs: four on a grand slam by Patman and two on a throwing error trying to pick off Howell at third base after a groundout.
Trevor Kill pitched 4 1/3 innings of relief to pick up the win for the Grizzlies. striking out two, while allowing one run and two hits in his time on the mound. The game ended after the seventh inning on the 10-run rule. The second game of Jayhawk Conference doubleheaders are now nine innings.
"Trevor came in and finished strong and was able to finish the game early," Johnson said. "With the extended weekend where we play nine in the second game, finishing early really helped us."
Grizzlies complete season sweep of Beavers
The Butler baseball team completed a four-game sweep of Pratt to begin Jayhawk West Conference play by beating Pratt 11-9 and 15-0 on Saturday.
Combined with Friday’s sweep. the Grizzlies have a 4-0 record in conference play after the opening weekend and are 5-3 overall.
In the first game, Butler fell behind 5-0, but quickly answered with five runs of their own in the top of the second inning, highlighted by a two-run double by freshman Brennan Murphy.
A two-run home run by Kyle Kinman in the fourth put Butler ahead 7-6 and Butler eventually build its lead to 9-6 after four innings. But in the fifth, Pratt hit a three-run home run to tie the game once again at 9-9.
The game winning hit was a two-run triple in the sixth by Brennan Murphy, which gave him two extra base hits and four RBI in the game.
Colton Blackburn pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief and earned the win, while Bret Macari pitched two scoreless innings to ern the save, his second in as many days.
In the second game, neither team scored until Butler catcher Chris Kennedy singled in the fourth to give the Grizzlies a 1-0 lead. The big blow came in the fifth inning, when Butler’s JC Ochoa hit a grand slam to give Butler a 5-0 lead.
Over the next four innings, Pratt errors would lead to six Butler runs, while Marc Waldron would drive in two runs and Stephen Wedderburn drove in another as a part of the lopsided win.
Kyle Kinman started on the mound for Butler in the second game and threw six scoreless innings to earn the win.
