The Butler baseball team defeated Division III Wabash 10-2 at a wet and rainy Bulldog Park yesterday.

The Bulldogs (18-18, 7-5) took the lead almost immediately when freshman outfielder Nick Bartolone hit a two-run home run in the first inning.

Bartolone finished 2 for 5 with a game-high three RBIs.

Junior outfielder Marcos Calderon doubled to right field in the second inning to drive in senior outfielder Bob Akin from first base.

Butler jumped out to a 7-0 lead after just two innings of play.

The Little Giants (13-19) scored two runs in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 7-2.

The Bulldogs answered in the sixth with two runs driven in on a sacrifice fly by Calderon and a single by Bartolone.

Senior pitcher Kyle Kramp earned the win, allowing one hit in two innings.

Senior pitcher Joel Leichty struck out four in four innings of relief work.

Butler was swept by No. 19 Indiana in a three-game series last weekend.

The Bulldogs dropped the first two games in Bloomington, losing 12-2 Friday and 5-2 Saturday.

The Hoosiers (30-8, 8-4) won Sunday’s game at Butler 10-3.

Indiana moved up to No. 17 in the Baseball America Top 25 after the series.

The Bulldogs host Northern Kentucky at Bulldog Park at 3 p.m. today.

Butler previously defeated the Norse (8-31, 3-12) 8-3 in a March 17 game played at Northern Kentucky.

The Butler baseball team piled up runs against Wabash yesterday, taking advantage of five errors and winning by a score of 17-3.

Photo by Marcy Thornsberry

The Bulldogs (16-13, 5-4) broke open the game with five runs in the fourth inning and four runs in the fifth innings against the Little Giants (13-14).

Junior Pat Gelwicks continued to lead Butler offensively. The designated hitter had a home run and five RBI in the contest.

Senior right fielder Mike Hoscheit had a home run and three RBI, and senior shortstop Griffin Richeson had three hits and scored three runs from the leadoff spot.

Seven of the Bulldogs’ 17 runs were unearned.

Last weekend, Butler took two out of three games in a weekend series against the Youngstown State Penguins.

With the victories, the Bulldogs moved into second place in the Horizon League.

On Sunday, the team defeated the Penguins (4-22, 2-7) 18-5 behind a strong performance from Gelwicks.

Gelwicks was a force once again, going 5-for-7 with a home run, a double and three RBI.

Butler jumped out to an early lead, scoring five runs in the top of the first inning.

The Bulldogs added six runs in the top of the sixth inning and collected four more in the top of the ninth inning.

Ten Butler players recorded at least one RBI in the contest.

Senior pitcher Mike Hernandez gave up one earned run and scattered six hits over six innings pitched. Hernandez also struck out two Penguins in the weekend’s rubber game.

On Saturday, the Penguins got the best of the Bulldogs, who committed four errors in the first three innings of the game.

Youngstown State won the game by a 9-3 margin despite tallying only three earned runs.

Sophomore third baseman Drew Dosch went 3-for-5 with four RBI and a double for the Penguins.

Youngstown State sophomore pitcher Patrick O’Brien scored his first victory of the season, while Butler junior pitcher Joel Leichty suffered his first loss of the campaign.

On Friday, Butler senior pitcher and Youngstown native Dom Silvestri had a successful homecoming, leading the Bulldogs to a 7-5 win.

Silvestri pitched six innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits to improve his record to 3-0.

Four Bulldogs recorded a double and Hoscheit hit a home run.

Hoscheit led Butler offensively, going 2-for-3 with two RBI.

Butler led 7-4 after six innings and Youngstown State was unable to rally back.

The Bulldogs will jump back into conference action when they take on Milwaukee in a three-game series from Thursday to Saturday.

The Butler men’s baseball team picked up its second consecutive victory last night, defeating IPFW, 8-3.

Senior third baseman Grant Fillipitch went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for the Bulldogs (2-3), while senior second baseman Luke Duncan added two RBIs.

Butler got the offense going early against the Mastadons (0-1), scoring three runs  in both the second and third innings.

Junior Mike Hernandez picked up the win for the Bulldogs, who had eight pitchers see action in the game.

The Bulldogs picked up their first win of the season against South Carolina-Upstate on Sunday, topping the Spartans (4-4), 10-9.

Fillipitch finished the day a triple short of hitting for the cycle, going 3-for-4 with a home run and an RBI.

Senior designated hitter Kyle Waggoner also had a strong day, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs. He was named Horizon League Player of the Week for hitting .412 and tallying seven RBIs during the road trip.

“Our hitters really broke out today and did a nice job,” head coach Steve Farley said. “After losing a tough game to Gardner-Webb, I wasn’t sure how the guys would bounce back.”

With the game tied at 8 going into the ninth, Butler played some small ball to produce the go-ahead run.

Freshman Zach Sizemore walked to open the frame and, after a sacrifice bunt and a passed ball, scored on a sacrifice fly from Waggoner to put the Bulldogs up, 9-8.

Butler added another run before the inning ended courtesy of an RBI single by junior shortstop Griffin Richeson.

Sophomore Chase Byerly held off a comeback by Upstate in the bottom of the inning and picked up his first save of the season.

Sophomore Joel Leichty picked up the win in relief for Butler.

The day before the win, Butler dropped both ends of a doubleheader against Gardner-Webb.

The second of the two games was a close affair, and, although the Bulldogs led for six innings, the Runnin’ Bulldogs (6-3) pulled out a 6-5 victory.

Butler used a strong second inning to take an early 4-0 lead.

Down 5-1 in the seventh, Gardner-Webb tied the contest, led by junior rightfielder Adam McFarland’s two RBIs.

In the bottom of the ninth, freshman third baseman Scott Coleman scored the game-winning run for the Runnin’ Bulldogs on a wild pitch.

The first game of the doubleheader wasn’t as competitive, as Butler fell behind early and dropped an 11-4 decision.

The Bulldogs opened their season on Friday with a 10-2 loss to Wofford (6-2).

Butler now heads to Oakland to take on the Golden Grizzlies (0-3) in back-to-back doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday.