Butler sweeps Hutchinson with pair of run-rule victories
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Butler softball team ran its Jayhawk Conference winning streak to three games with a dominant doubleheader sweep of Hutchinson on Tuesday at Fun Valley Complex.
Butler outscored Hutchinson 25-1 in 10 innings in the doubleheader, winning 10-0 in the first game and 15-1 in the second.
The Grizzlies (13-5 overall, 5-1 conference) will be back on the road Wednesday afternoon for another conference doubleheader at Independence beginning at 2:00 p.m.
Game 1 - Butler 10, Hutchinson 5 (5 innings)
Sophomore starting pitcher Megan Johnson went four scoreless innings to earn her second straight win. She allowed a leadoff single in the first inning but then went on to retire the next 12 batters she faced.
Johnson (4-2) has now thrown 11 straight scoreless innings, dating back to a complete-game shutout of Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa on Sunday.
Offensively, Butler got the only run it needed in the first inning as Shayna Espy walked, stole second and scored on a double by Anna Icenhower.
The Grizzlies, however, didn't stop there. Butler put up five runs in the second inning, on four hits, as 11 batters went to the plate
Butler added two more runs in each of the next two innings.
Espy went 2-for-3 with three stolen bases and drove in three runs, while Icenhower and Taliya Talley drove in two apiece.
Game 2 - Butler 15, Hutchinson 1 (5 innings)
Olivia DePew started in the circle and went three innings, giving up one run to earn the win as she improves to 4-2. Kaylee Burnett threw two scoreless innings in relief.
Butler has just one run in each of the first two innings, scoring on a Brianna Robinson homer in the first and a Sara Mitchell RBI double in the second.
The Grizzlies then exploded for six runs in the third inning, with the big hit being a three-run homer to left-center by Anna Williams.
Butler scored one more in the fourth and six in the fifth.
Sara Mitchell finished the game going 3-for-4 at the plate with two singles and a double, driving in a career-high five runs. Mitchell's previous best was four RBI against Northwest Kansas Tech on March 7, 2018.
NOTES: Tuesday's doubleheader was Butler's first meeting against Hutchinson since the 2012 season... Butler has won 16 straight games over the Blue Dragons and improved to 20-1 overall vs. Hutch under head coach Doug Chance... With the home run in Game 2, Robinson now has 28 career homers and is just one away from tying Alexis Reed (29, 2017-18) for fourth place all-time on the Butler career leaderboard... Icenhower had two hits in both games, giving her multiple hits in each of the last three games. She currently has an eight-game hitting streak and is hitting .483 (14-of-29) with three home runs, 10 runs batted in and eight runs scored.