Taylor and Indiana Tech outlast Butler
Monday, March 17, 2008, 13:13 EST
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The Butler Bulldogs (29-3) will face No. 10 seed South Alabama (26-6) this Friday. Butler, who recently won the Horizon League, was earlier projected to be a No. 4 or No. 5 seed, so dropping all the way down to a No. 7 seed is certainly disappointing.
This will not be an easy matchup. Before the Horizon League men's basketball tournament championship game, the nation knew that Butler would be in the NCAA Tournament. This fact did not change the importance of that game. The Bulldog’s NCAA seed hung in the balance of a matchup against HL second-place Cleveland State in Hinkle Fieldhouse on March 11. The baseball team notched its first victory of the season on Sunday with a 3-2 win over host Tennessee Tech.
The road trip didn’t begin all that great, however, as Butler (1-11) dropped the first two games of the series on Friday and Saturday. The women’s basketball team did all it could to stay alive in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Championship tournament on March 12, even overcoming a 21-point first half deficit, but it wasn’t enough as the host Vikings would claim a 79-68 victory.
The Bulldogs finished the season 20-10, which is the program’s best record since the 1997-98 season when the team finished 25-6.
Butler got off to a good start, loading the bases with one out in the first inning to set up senior Ryan Neat’s RBI single that scored junior Rick Betsch. Unfortunately, senior Nate Hart was thrown out at third during the play and then junior Alex Montagano flied out to end the inning.
Taylor fought back right away in the following inning, jumping ahead 2-1 after stringing together a pair of singles and a double. The Trojan offense remained consistent throughout the rest of the game to keep it out of reach.
The Bulldog offense was able to produce only one more run in the eighth inning off an RBI double by senior Joe Pauley to score freshman pinch-runner Luke Duncan.
Freshman Grant Fillipitch finished the game 3-for-5. The rest of the team combined for just four hits.
The following day, Butler continued the battle for its first victory, but again came up short, falling 9-3 to visiting Indiana Tech.
The Bulldogs produced just one hit in the entire game, when Montagano singled in the eighth. He eventually scored on a sacrifice fly from Hart to end the shutout. Butler picked up two more runs in the ninth after drawing three straight walks to start the inning. Freshman Rahdric Dix reached on a fielder’s choice to score sophomore Kyle Schultz and freshman Brian Bajer reached on an error to score fellow freshman Dan Robinson.
Salukis too much for Bulldogs
By Amy Hyerczyk
Dawgnet Staff Writer
The baseball team continued its rough start, dropping two to host Southern Illinois, 8-1 and 9-2 on March 9 and 10.
The Salukis held a 5-0 lead after just three innings of play. Senior Kyle McLaughlin knocked in junior Colin Ziegel with a double in the fifth for Butler’s (0-10) only run in the first game.
Junior lefty Matt Sokolowski pitched 4.1 innings in relief, giving up no earned runs or walks, three hits and four strikeouts.
Day two didn’t prove any better for the Bulldogs, who essentially gave the game to the Salukis through wild pitches and errors.
Southern Illinois jumped on top in the first inning with two runs and continued the momentum with two more in the second inning on four hits. Senior starting pitcher Bryan Bokowy finally held the Salukis scoreless over the next two innings, giving his team time to attempt a rally.
Southern Illinois scored another in the sixth and three more in the seventh with a home run to take an 8-0 advantage.
The Bulldogs finally crossed home in the eighth after an RBI double by junior Rick Betsch scored senior Joe Pauley. McLaughlin singled to center to score Betsch, but that would be all the offense would muster.