Butler wins first conference series at home against Barton

The Butler baseball squad took three of four games from Barton over the weekend, winning its second straight conference series and its first home conference series win of the season.

Butler swept Barton on Friday winning 4-0 and 7-1. On Saturday, Barton defeated the Grizzlies in a 13-9 contest, but Butler edged the Cougars 3-2 in the nightcap to win the series.

Butler improves to 13-11 overall and 9-7 in Jayhawk West play. The Grizzlies have now won eight of its last 10 games. Next up for the Grizzlies will be a 3 p.m. home contest against Allen County on Wednesday, then return to conference action this weekend with a four-game series at Dodge City beginning Saturday.

GAME 1

Butler sophomore Brad Day hurled a complete-game shutout in the series opener, as the righty allowed just six hits and walked three.

Gabe Cook had a 3-for-3 performance at the plate, Evan Koehler had two RBI and Dalton Wheat scored two runs to lead the Grizzlies offensively.

Butler scored three unearned runs in the third inning with the help of two Barton errors and a wild pitch. With one out, Levi Parker reached first on an error and advanced to second on the throw, then Dalton Wheat followed with a single to left. With Ty Moore batting and runners at the corners, Wheat stole second. Barton second baseman Jace Bowman slipped while covering second and the throw went into center field, which allowed Parker to score and Wheat to move to third. Moore would then earn a walk and steal second base. Koehler hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Wheat for the second run, while Moore would eventually score on a wild pitch.

In the fifth, Wheat opened the inning by getting a hit with a pitch. Moore then reached first on an error, and both runners advanced a base on the error. Koehler then hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Wheat to make the score 4-0.

Barton had its best chance to score in the opening frame, as the Cougars stranded two runners in scoring position. In five of the final six innings, Barton left a runner on base.

GAME 2

Starting pitcher Brandon Taylor fanned a season-high 10 batters and Butler used an 11-hit attack in a 7-1 victory over the Cougars in Friday's nightcap.

Trailing 1-0 in the first, Butler tied the game on an Evan Koehler RBI single to score Levi Parker.

In the second, Micheal Cerullo led off with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and moved to third on a failed pickoff throw. Shane Bridges then hit a weak chopper halfway up the first-base line, but pitcher Skylar Hill threw wide of first base which allowed Cerullo to score. Bridges would come home on an RBI single by Dalton Wheat.

Butler extended its lead to 6-1 with a three-run fifth. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Brandon Taylor doubled to left-center to score Ty Moore and Dalton Wheat. Gus Strunk added a sacrifice fly to score Evan Koehler.

An RBI double by Tory Bell to score Gabe Cook in the seventh capped the scoring for the Grizzlies.

Taylor earned his second win of the season, going six innings and allowing just one hit and one run. After a rocky first inning, Taylor settled down and allowed only three batters to reach base over the next five innings. He struck out eight of the final 12 batters he faced.

Offensively, Butler was led by Ty Moore, who went 3-for-5 with a run scored and two stolen bases. Dalton Wheat also had a two-hit game, while Taylor had two RBI.

GAME 3

Barton used a seven-run first inning and held on for a 13-9 win over Butler in Saturday's opener.

The Grizzlies nearly recovered from a 9-1 deficit, but pulled no closer than two runs after five innings.

Four Grizzlies had multiple-hit games, including Brandon Taylor, who went 2-for-3 with two home runs and four RBI. Dalton Wheat, Evan Koehler and Logan Beard also had two hits each in the loss.

Trailing 10-5 in the fifth, Taylor hit his second home run of the game to pull Butler within three runs. Four batters later, Beard doubled to left-center to score Gus Strunk.

Barton would add three more insurance runs over the final two innings to hold off the Grizzlies.

Starter Jackson Rolfs struggled in his first loss of the season, recording just one out as he was tagged for six runs and six hits before giving way to the bullpen. Barton pounded the Grizzlies with 16 hits in the win.

GAME 4

Butler received a strong pitching performance from starter Greg Houser and held on late for a 3-2 victory to win the series against Barton.

The Grizzlies scored three runs in the first two frames, with Levi Parker scoring the game's first run on a throwing error by catcher Braxon Byfield. Parker opened the first inning with an infield single, then stole second base. Parker then stole third and scored on an errant throw by Byfield.

Gus Strunk and Dalton Wheat added RBI singles in the second to give Butler a 3-0 lead.

Houser (2-3) kept Barton off the scoreboard as he threw seven scoreless innings and allowed just three hits. He struck out seven batters en-route to his second victory. Trevor Ezell earned his sixth save of the season, but not without some drama in the ninth inning.

Ezell pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth, but allowed three straight batters to reach base after recording one out. A walk, double and an infield RBI single by Andres Vierya to score Pete Ruiz allowed Barton to break the shutout. Alex King followed with an RBI groundout to pull the Cougars within a run, but Ezell would get Barton's Erik Benson to ground out for the final out.

Levi Parker and Gabe Cook led the Grizzlies with two hits each in the win.