Grizzlies’ complete series sweep of Highland with pair of victories on Friday

Story by Wyatt Ebersole

The Butler Baseball team completed the season series sweep of the Highland Scotties after winning games three and four of the series on Friday afternoon. The Grizzlies won a nail-biter of a game to open the day 3-2, before picking up a dominant 17-6 run-rule victory in final game of the series. The pair of wins moves the Grizzlies to 14-9 on the season and it is the Grizzlies sixth straight win. For Highland, the pair of losses drops them to 7-15 on the young season and they have now lost eight straight games. 

Game 1

Game one of the day was a pitching duel, with both teams starters pitching over half the game and dominating the opposing side. Through the first five innings, Butler held a slim 2-1 advantage over Highland courtesy of an RBI groundout from Hayden Dyer in the first inning and sacrifice fly from Justin Hudson in the third. The Grizzlies doubled their lead in the sixth inning after another sac fly, this one from Cole Murrell that put the Grizzlies up 3-1. Highland would threaten a comeback in the seventh inning as they managed to draw three two out walks, but Blake Werry managed to close the game out for the Grizzlies to earn the save for himself and a win for the Grizzlies in game one.

The Grizzlies were limited to just three hits, with two coming from the bat of Justin Hudson, but it was enough to get the job done. William Humphrey earned the win for the Grizzlies in the game as he was great in his five innings of work, allowing just one run on one hit with four strikeouts.

Game 2

Game two and the series finale was close in the early going, but a pair of big innings late for the Grizzlies would give them a monster 17-6 win in run-rule fashion. Through the first four innings, Highland held the advantage, leading 6-4 powered by two different two-run home runs, but after the fourth inning, it was all Grizzlies. After RBIs from Hudson and Frank Garcia tied the game up at 6-6, Markus Hamre blasted a three-run homer to right field to put the Grizzlies on top 9-6. Josh Holmes brought in another run on an RBI single to cap off the inning, giving the Grizzlies a 10-6 advantage through five innings. The bats stayed hot for the Grizzlies into the sixth, as Garcia plated another run with a sac fly that was followed up with an RBI double to left from Brock Kuehler that made it 12-6 Grizzlies. Brock Toothaker kept things rolling with a two RBI shot back up the middle that made it 14-6 Butler. Hayden Dyer joined in on the fun with a two RBI double to right center that put the Grizzlies at the run rule threshold at 16-6. Justin Hudson capped off the high scoring inning with an RBI double to left that made it 17-6 Grizzlies. Garrett Fager kept the Scotties off the board in their half of the seventh giving the Grizzlies the run rule, seven inning victory. 

Zach Brink brought home his first W of the season, going two and two-thirds innings allowing no runs on two hits while striking out four Highland batters. Hayden Dyer was the star of the show at the plate in game two as he went a miraculous 4-5, recording five RBIs, coming across to score two times.

The Grizzlies play a mid-week game this coming Tuesday on the road against Coffeyville. They resume conference play on Thursday in Concordia against the Cloud T-Birds and then they return home on Saturday to finish off the series with the T-Birds at 1 and 3PM.