A late rally propelled the Butler baseball team to a 9-8 victory over Illinois-Chicago Sunday afternoon.

The contest was the second of the day and the finale of a three-game series between the two squads.

Photo by Reid Bruner

The win earned the Bulldogs (19-17, 7-8) a split of the day’s doubleheader and allowed the team to avoid a three-game sweep.

The Bulldogs trailed the Flames (14-19, 8-7) 8-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning and captured the win with four runs.

Freshman second baseman Austin Miller hit a one-out single that sent junior first baseman Jimmy Risi home and sealed the walk-off victory.

“Any win is good, but a walk-off win is something special,” Butler coach Steve Farley said. “The player who gets the game-winning hit usually remembers that day for a long time.”

Miller said his teammates gave him the opportunity to come up big in a clutch situation.

“I wouldn’t have been in that situation if not for everyone before me,” Miller said.

Miller finished the game with three RBIs, and Risi went 2 for 4 with a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Senior pitcher Dom Silvestri started for the Bulldogs and gave up four earned runs over six innings.

Senior pitcher Mike Hernandez got the win, allowing two earned runs over the last two innings of the game.

“Our comeback in the second game on Sunday was one of the best I’ve seen at Bulldog Park,” Farley said.

The win was a quick bounce back for the Bulldogs after losing the first game 7-5 in 13 innings.

“Players probably spent 10 hours at the ballpark on Sunday,” Farley said. “It’s a physical and mental challenge.”

Butler led UIC 5-3 after the third inning before the Flames tied it in the seventh inning and scored a pair of runs in the 13th inning.

Junior Chase Byerly pitched 6 2/3 innings in relief and took the loss.

Earlier in the week, Byerly set the record for most saves in Butler history.

UIC took the lead in the 13^th inning on an RBI single by redshirt junior centerfielder Nick Addison and added one more run on a single off the bat of sophomore shortstop Alex Lee.

Butler’s leadoff hitter reached base in the bottom of the inning before a double play stifled any Bulldog scoring opportunity.

The game was Butler’s longest of the season.

Lee led the Flames on offense, going 4 for 7 and driving in one run.

Junior catcher Radley Haddad went 3 for 5 with two RBIs and a double for the Bulldogs.

On Friday, Butler rallied late but came up short in a 14-9 loss to UIC.

The Bulldogs scored seven runs over the last three innings and were propelled by a two-run home by Risi and four RBIs from Miller.

Freshman pitcher Eric Stout gave up five earned runs in the first three innings and suffered the loss.

The Bulldogs host non-conference rival Xavier this afternoon at Bulldog Park before heading to Valparaiso this weekend.

It will be the second three-game series of the season between the teams.

Coaches of athletic teams are hired to provide leadership and usher in success at all levels of sport.

They are expected to help athletes improve at their respective sports while also instilling real-world values in them.

Photo courtesy of MCT

Not all coaches do their job the same way, though.

For example, some coaches like to spend time talking to the media, and others do not.

A coach talking to the media is a typical experience in the sporting world. However, some coaches go too far and become the focal point of their teams.

This should rarely be the case, and most coaches do a great job at shunning attention.

Ozzie Guillen, the manager of MLB’s Miami Marlins, does not fall into this category.

Guillen ignited a firestorm in his new city—he was formerly the coach of the Chicago White Sox—by saying he loves former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

Florida boasts a large Cuban-American population that hates Castro and is now asking for Guillen’s head.

Through this, Guillen has burdened his teams and caused them to worry about something other than the game itself. This is not what a good coach is supposed to do.

John Tortorella, the manager of the NHL’s New York Rangers, also consistently brings negative heat upon his team, because he cannot keep his mouth shut.

Tortorella was fined $20,000 last Saturday for criticizing members of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Tortorella has brought undue negative attention to a team that was at the top of its game for most of the recently completed regular season.

Just because he feels the need to sound off publicly about issues does not mean he should do it, especially when it can only cause problems for those who he is supposed to be leading and helping.

We get laughs out of coaching rants from the likes of Guillen and Tortorella, but they serve no legitimate purpose because they are not meant to help anyone or fix anything.

Sometimes a coach becoming the focal point of his or her team has some merit.

For example, Stan Van Gundy, the coach of the NBA’s Orlando Magic, recently went public about one of his players apparently trying to get him fired.

That said, Butler sports fans should consider themselves lucky—they do not have to deal with coaches who have overbearing egos and large mouths.

Men’s basketball coach Brad Stevens always directs attention away from himself, as do Butler’s other coaches.

Baseball coach Steve Farley, tennis coach Jason Suscha and volleyball coach Sharon Clark—the three longest tenured Butler coaches—have all achieved success without blabbing to the media.

Quiet coaches in sports can be a blessing in disguise.

Hopefully, Guillen and Tortorella can figure this out in the near future.

Their names do not usually make headlines, and they do not get credit for wins. In fact, they go completely unnoticed most of the time.

They are the ones behind the masks—the catchers for the Butler baseball and softball teams.

The baseball team has four players who have manned the position this season: seniors Nick Hladek and Brian Padove, junior Radley Haddad and sophomore Ryan Wojciechowski.

The softball team has used a rotation of three catchers: seniors Mallory Winters and Alyssa Coleman and freshman Maria Leichty.

The catching position is a unique one and has been argued to be one of the most vital across all sports.

“To me, catcher is one of the most important positions on the team,” Butler baseball coach Steve Farley said.  “Major league scouts say that the quickest way to get to the big leagues is to be a catcher—every team wants a solid player at that position.”

In Little League play, catcher is often one of the least-desired positions.

Winters, however, has been catching since she was 12 years old.

The best of the softball team’s catchers in fielding percentage, Winters started her softball career as a pitcher. She said she decided to try catching one day and “really liked it.”

Hladek also started catching at a young age.

“When you’re little, no one wants to catch because you’re getting beat up, and it’s hot in all the gear,” Hladek said. “I liked it because I got to be in on every play.”

Pitchers and catchers are the only players that touch the ball every single play, but softball coach Scott Hall said it requires an immense amount of focus.

“They’re the only player than can see everything that’s going on,” Hall said. “Everyone else has a sort of blind spot, so [catchers] have to know what’s going on.”

Catchers do not typically get the same kind of recognition that other players on the field do, but they say they are OK with that.

“I think of it as the middle-child syndrome,” Winters said. “You’re not the star. You’re overlooked in the family and on the field, but you have a duty—whether that is catering to the pitcher or getting yelled at for the day.”

Haddad, who leads the team in doubles and has the third-highest batting average among the Bulldogs, said that catchers are not supposed to be noticed.

“I was told once that if you’re a catcher and no one notices you, you did a great job,” Haddad said. “You’re just supposed to do the things you’re supposed to do, do them right, and you’ll do a good job.”

Senior pitcher Brad Schnitzer described catchers as field generals, while sophomore pitcher Leah Bry said she thinks of them as queens and kings of the field.

“You have to be a leader when you’re a catcher,” Bry said. “Everyone’s looking at the pitchers, but they’re really ruling what’s going on.”

Farley said that it takes a certain kind of person to be able to work with different pitchers and be the leader on the field.

“Each catcher has his own personality, and each guy needs to know how to push the buttons of the various pitchers they work with,” Farley said. “You have to know when to pat a pitcher on the back and when to kind of kick him in the butt.”

Catchers take a lot of blame for when things go wrong, whether they are actually at fault or not.

“We don’t expect a lot of high fives,” Coleman said. “Most of the time we’re getting yelled at, but it’s worth it knowing that we’re a part of it.”

Despite the negative aspects of the job, Butler’s catchers said they love what they do.

“It takes a lot to be a catcher,” Haddad said. “It’s tough. It’s mentally and physically taxing—you’re getting beat up back there. It’s a warrior position.

“It’s a beautiful thing to succeed, but I love knowing that, no matter what, I get to come back out and play again tomorrow.”

Kansas State had him once.

Muscatine Community College had him once.

But now, Butler University has junior first baseman Jimmy Risi all the time.

Risi has brought power and team-leading offensive numbers to the Bulldogs despite getting off to what he called a “crappy” start.

Risi is currently leading Butler in multiple categories, including slugging percentage (.646), home runs (six) and RBI (26).

An Illinois native, Risi was a history-maker at Highland Park High School.

He set school records in home runs (27), runs batted in (118) and doubles (38). He also set the school record for best single-season batting average (.468) and eventually earned a full-ride scholarship to Kansas State.

“I stayed [at Kansas State] for a year, but I left the team right before the season started,” Risi said. “I played in the fall and was going to play for the team but decided to leave. It just wasn’t for me.”

Risi then spent two years with Muscatine, a junior college in eastern Iowa. There he led the team in home runs and batting average, among other offensive categories, during both seasons.

But Muscatine would not be Risi’s final stop.

He began emailing universities, looking to move again. Although the majority sent no reply, former Butler assistant coach Matt Tyner did.

“It was exciting,” Risi said. “I didn’t think [the Butler coaching staff] was going to email back.”

Two days after his second season with Muscatine ended, he made an official visit to Butler.

“It was kind of an emotional time,” said Risi, who had to say goodbye to friends at Muscatine, visit with family at home and visit a brand-new school, all in the span of 48 hours.

“I was home for one day, and then it was, ‘OK, now you have to go visit another school and make a decision within a week,’” Risi said.

After traveling to Indianapolis, Risi settled on Butler. He said he was enticed by the campus, the school and the people, including those who are now his teammates and coaches.

“Right from the first week on, all of the guys were great,” Risi said. “They were all so supportive and welcoming.”

Risi called coach Steve Farley “a father figure” and said that “he treats you like a person, which is different from other places.”

“Jimmy is off to a great start this season,” Farley said. “It helped that some of our players from the Chicago area played against him in high school.”

One of those players is senior pitcher Brad Schnitzer, who was on a national runner-up team with Risi at age 12.

“Jimmy is somebody who, right away, everybody really liked,” Schnitzer said. “He meshed with the team really quickly. He hits the ball harder and farther than anybody else, but he’s so humble about it.”

Yesterday in Butler’s 12-5 win over Bellarmine, Risi went 1-for-2 with four RBI and Butler’s lone home run.

“I just want to continue to help the team win and get better any way I can,” Risi said.

He said he has a couple of goals in mind for his time at Butler, including taking more of a leadership role as a senior.

The primary objective, however, is a Horizon League title this year.

“To me, Jimmy is capable of being one of the top power hitters in the Horizon League,” Farley said. “We are excited to have him in a Bulldog uniform.”

In recent weeks, reports from ESPN and CBS led many to believe that Butler may switch athletic conferences within the next few years.

Butler could make the transition from the Horizon League to the Atlantic 10 conference and replace departing Temple.

The Owls of Temple are currently part of the A-10 in all sports except football.

For football, Temple is an associate member of the Mid-American Conference.

Temple is joining the Big East next season for football and all other sports the following year.

According to reports, Butler may likely be the team to fill the spot left by Temple in the A-10.

Butler would bring all of its athletic teams to the A-10 except for football, which is a member of the Pioneer Football League.

The change would go into effect beginning with the 2013-2014 school year.

Other schools that ESPN and CBS consider to be candidates for filling the A-10 vacancy are Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason.

If the crossover is made, Butler would be the second-smallest university in the league.

Butler would have more students than only St. Bonaventure, which has an enrollment of approximately 2,400.

Butler’s athletic programs would compete against schools with more than 20,000 students, such as Charlotte, George Washington University and the Massachusetts.

However, most of the schools in the A-10 have between 6,000 and 15,000 students.

The Butler athletics department declined to comment on conference affiliation or changes, other than Associate Athletic Director Jim McGrath saying that “we are members of the Horizon League.”

The move would likely benefit Butler’s men’s basketball team, which competed in back-to-back NCAA championship games in 2010 and 2011.

This season, the A-10 placed four teams in the NCAA tournament—Xavier, St. Bonaventure, Temple and Saint Louis. The Horizon League sent only Detroit to the Big Dance.

The Bulldogs would see an increase in competition and would have a traditional conference rival in Xavier.

Senior guard Rotnei Clarke has experience playing in a collegiate athletic conference more prominent than the Horizon League.

Clarke transferred from Arkansas—a member of the Southeastern Conference—last year and sat out this season with a year of eligibility remaining.

“It’s a cool thing being able to play in a power conference,” Clarke said.

The A-10 is not nearly as big as the SEC, but the A-10 tends to draw more attention from major media outlets—specifically ESPN—than the Horizon League.

Clarke said the media exposure he experienced during his time in the SEC was a good experience.

Clarke will graduate from Butler prior to any of Butler’s teams competing in A-10 play, but he said he thinks the men’s basketball team would still measure up in the new conference if they moved.

“I feel like we would compete in the A-10 for sure. No doubt about it,” Clarke said.

Like the men’s basketball team, the other squads would see an increase in competition but not necessarily unfamiliar opponents.

Men’s basketball, women’s soccer, baseball, men’s tennis and women’s tennis all played or will already play at least one A-10 team during this academic school year.

Baseball coach Steve Farley said both Xavier and Dayton, two teams from the A-10 that Butler has faced or will face this season, were in the conference when he took his current job more than 20 years ago.

Farley  also said he would be OK with the new competition, but he is wary of the way the conference is spread out.

“Fifteen-hour bus rides to places like Massachusetts, Rhode Island and upstate New York don’t excite me that much,” Farley said.

Volleyball coach Sharon Clark said she is not familiar with the A-10 but thinks it would be a little tougher from a traveling aspect as well.

As for football, scholarships are available for players in the A-10 but not in the PFL.

Reports indicate that if Butler jumped to the A-10, its football team would remain in the PFL.

The Butler baseball team came from behind to beat Dayton in the team’s home opener Tuesday, winning 8-5.

The Flyers (2-8) scored four runs over the first four innings of play, taking a 4-0 advantage.

The Bulldogs (4-7) scored their first run of the game on an RBI double by junior catcher Nick Hladek in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Photo by Taylor Cox

In the next inning, Butler scored four runs to take its first lead of the day.

Senior outfielder Mike Hoscheit walked with the bases loaded, and senior Griffin Richeson was hit by a pitch in the following at-bat to bring another run home.

Junior outfielder Jack Dillon and freshman shortstop Austin Miller then recorded back-to-back singles with the bases loaded to give the Bulldogs their first lead.

“I’d say Dayton helped us out,” Butler coach Steve Farley said. “They brought in some new guys to pitch and committed some errors.”

Dayton was able to tie the game in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly, but a double by Dillon in the bottom of the inning drove in a pair of runs and gave Butler the lead for good.

The Bulldogs were able to battle back from an early deficit to take the victory three days after doing the same against Belmont.

“We’ve done that a few times this year,” Farley said. “We did that against Fresno State and in Tennessee against Belmont, and I’m impressed.

“The guys don’t quit, even in these tough games where we’re behind.”

Last weekend, the Bulldogs fell in the final game of a three-game series to Belmont, losing 8-2.

Down 2-0 after two innings, Butler junior third baseman Lucas Calderon had a run-scoring sacrifice groundout to cut the lead in half.

Butler was unable to handle the offensive attack of the Bruins (6-5) the rest of the way though.

Butler came from behind twice to beat Belmont 8-7 in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader.

The Bulldogs were down 5-1 when their bats came to life in the sixth inning.

Butler junior first baseman Jimmy Risi drove in three runs on a bases-loaded double before Hoscheit brought Risi home with a double of his own.

Junior catcher Radley Haddad singled to drive in the team’s fifth run of the inning, giving the Bulldogs a 6-5 lead.

Belmont regained a 7-6 lead with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Butler responded again in the eighth inning and secured the victory when Hoscheit hit a game-winning, two-run home run.

Butler lost to Belmont 12-4 in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.

The Bruins held a 12-0 lead before the Bulldogs tallied four runs in the top of the ninth inning.

Butler begins a four-game series at home against Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday.

Butler baseball coach Steve Farley has aspirations of his team “being in the top three in the Horizon League” this season.

There is just one problem: injuries.

The Bulldogs prepared for their opening day tilt against Fresno State on Friday by taking a day off for rest on Monday.

“Getting people healthy [is important],” Farley said. “This is our earliest starting date since I’ve been here.”

Among the hurt Bulldogs are sophomore third baseman Patrick Guinane (ankle), whom Farley called “our best hitter last season,” and junior first baseman Jim Risi (hamstring), a transfer student who Farley said “could be our best hitter this season.”

Also out is senior pitcher Dom Silvestri, who underwent surgery during the offseason.

Despite Silvestri’s absence, Farley said one of the team’s big strengths is pitching depth.

This is good news for a team that was fifth of seven conference teams in earned run average and had the second most wild pitches in the league.

“There’s not a secret to stopping wild pitches,” junior catcher Nick Hladek said. “We have to work on throwing strikes and improve from last year.”

One area where the Bulldogs were better last season was on offense.

The team was second in the Horizon League in batting average and runs  scored and was third in on base percentage.

Still, Farley said this season’s team is a better hitting team on paper than last season’s.

“Last season, BBCOR [Bat Standard] deadened the bats and lowered offensive output,” Farley said. “It took our hitters a long time to get used to it.”

In addition to Guinane and Risi, Butler returns senior infielder Griffin Richeson and senior outfielder Mike Hoscheit to fuel the offense.

Richeson has the second-highest batting average and on base percentage of all returning Bulldogs, behind Guinane.

Hoscheit has the third-highest batting average and second-highest slugging percentage of the team’s returning players.

Upperclassmen will likely be relied upon this season, as 22 of the team’s 32 players are a junior or senior.

“We have a lot of leadership collectively,” Hladek said. “There won’t be one guy who we’ll have to rely upon.”

Two of those leaders will be Silvestri and senior pitcher Mike Hernandez, who were named two of the league’s three top pitchers in a recent poll of the league’s coaches.

That same poll had Wright State as the team to beat this season, a team that Farley said Butler “tries to be like.”

“Some people might overlook us, but we’re going to make some noise in the league,” Hladek said.”

Baseball coach Steve Farley has been at Butler University for longer than many of his players have been alive.

Farley will kick off his 21st season with the Bulldogs when the team takes on Fresno State on Friday.

During Farley’s 21 years at Butler, he has amassed 484 wins and guided the team to five league championship games and a pair of NCAA tournament bids.

“If you would have said [that I would have been here for 21 years], I wouldn’t have guessed it,” he said.

Prior to becoming a coach , Farley played the typical trifecta of boys’ sports in high school: football, basketball and baseball.

Photo by Maria Porter

Farley’s devotion to baseball grew at the University of Minnesota. There, he was a left-handed pitcher for the Golden Gophers.

Farley then became a graduate assistant at the University of Arizona. He coached under the tutelage of Jerry Kindall, who had a 10-year career in the big leagues and led Arizona to three College World Series titles.

“I copied what had worked for the teams in Arizona,” Farley said. “It was such a blessing for me [to be there].”

Farley’s first full-time coaching opportunity was at West Point Academy as a pitching coach. That served as an eventual springboard to a head coaching position at Davis and Elkins College three years later.

Farley’s next stop would be Butler, where the baseball team’s head coaching position opened up in 1991.

Farley said he was “very fortunate” to land the job, especially considering that his wife now works at Butler as well.

Farley was taking the reins of a team that “wasn’t very good at the time,” but said he knew it was “something to go to work on.”

His work paid off quickly, as his first recruiting class went on to win the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Championship as seniors in 1996.

And while the team and its available resources have changed, Farley has remained a Bulldog.

“I remember shoveling snow off of Hinkle’s parking lot just to play catch,” Farley said. “I’m grateful to the guys back then for that.”

Junior outfielder Andrew Eckhardt said the key to Farley’s success is his ability to connect to players.

“Playing under [coach] Farley is very enjoyable,” Eckhardt said. “He cares about everyone on the team and would always be willing to help us with any problems we would have.”

Pitching coach DJ Throneburg, who is entering his second season with the team, said he has observed as much in his short time here.

“The fact that he can relate and joke around with the guys is huge,” Throneburg said. “Guys are comfortable, and that makes them want to keep playing for him.”

The defining moment of Farley’s coaching career is easy for him to pinpoint.

“Making it to the NCAA tournament in 2000,” Farley said. “We had to win two games against an undefeated University of Illinois-Chicago team, and we did.

“The tournament was held at the University of Minnesota, and going back to the field where I played [college baseball] was pretty special.”

The Butler baseball and softball teams inked the newest commits to their respective teams during the NCAA early signing period last month.

The baseball team added Nick Bartolone, Chris Marras, Nick Saldutti and Drew Small to their squad for the 2013 season. Each player hails from the Midwest, with all but one coming from Indiana.

Bartalone is expected to be an outfielder for the Bulldogs and is coming off back-to-back all-conference selections as he enters his senior season at Harrison High School in West Lafayette.

“He’s a left-handed hitting power guy,” coach Steve Farley said. “Nick’s going to get bigger and stronger, and he’s got a good chance to be one of our starting outfielders pretty quick.”

Marras joins the Bulldogs after a successful high school career in the Chicago suburb of Vernon Hills. Along with being selected team MVP and named team captain at VHHS, Marras also played summer ball with Top Tier, a premier summer team that also claims several current Bulldogs as alumni.

“We looked at a lot of different catchers and felt like he was a good fit for us,” Farley said. “Catcher is an important position, he’s got a good, strong arm, and he reminds me of some of the better players we’ve had in the past.”

Saldutti hails from Westfield, a northern Indianapolis suburb, and plays first base while batting as a powerful left-hander. Saldutti hit .471 over the summer playing for the Indiana NorthStars.

“He started to really stand out as one of the better first basemen over the summer, and he really likes Butler,” Farley said.

Small will join the Bulldogs as a versatile all-purpose player.

Small earned all-state honorable mention status last year and looks to contribute to his Zionsville High School  baseball team, which is coached by former Butler coach John Zangrilli, during his senior season.

“He’s a really good athlete and comes from a good family,” Farley said.  “He’s a good leadoff man type of guy, a really good team player.”

On the other diamond, the softball team added five players at the early signing deadline. Four players are from Indiana and one is from Colorado.

Alex Kotter, Chelsea Conover, Audrey East, Taylor Lockwood and Kristin Gutierrez will join the Bulldogs starting in 2013.

Kotter is a first team all-state selection out of Vincennes Lincoln High School and holds a career batting average of .615.

“She’s a very talented hitter,” coach Scott Hall said.  “She’s a very good athlete, and she’s very fluid with everything.”

Conover hails from Brownsburg and will give the Bulldogs a boost in the speed department.  She led her team in stolen bases last year, along with on-base percentage and runs scored.

“She fits what we are looking for, and speed doesn’t take a day off,” Hall said.

East will provide some power to the Butler attack next year. She led New Palestine high school in home runs, doubles and walks while helping lead the team to a state title in 2009.

“With us graduating two catchers this year, we needed someone to fill those shoes,” Hall said.

Lockwood rounds out the local recruits and will bring depth to the Bulldog pitching attack. A 2011 Indianapolis Star Super Team honoree, Lockwood went 17-4 on the mound for Southport High School last season.

“She’s a kid who can increase her strength, movement and velocity in the circle, and she can definitely be a factor for us pitching,” Hall said.

Gutierrez will come to Butler from Colorado, and she will provide a left-handed pitching presence for the Bulldogs.  She led her conference not only in strikeouts but also in hitting.

“She gives us another option as a left-handed pitcher,” Hall said.  “She fits the Butler Way motto, and we are really excited to have her.”

The Butler baseball team put an end to a three-game losing streak and swept the series against a non-conference opponent, Lawrence.

The Bulldogs (15-16, 4-5 HL) outscored the Vikings (2-21), 32-3, during the three-game weekend series and were victorious in all three contests.

“I expected us to have a very successful series against Lawrence,” head coach Steve Farley said. “Our starting pitchers gave us three good outings and overall we played good defense.”

The Vikings tallied their first runs of the series late in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday. It was not nearly enough, however, as Butler finished off Lawrence, 14-3, in seven innings.

A five-run first inning gave the Bulldogs all the runs they needed. Sophomore designated hitter Pat Gelwicks had a two-run triple in the frame and later scored on a wild pitch.

In the third inning, the Bulldogs managed to plate three more runs without recording a hit.

Butler scored seven more times during the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to lead 12-0 before Lawrence brought home its only three runs of the series in the sixth inning.

Ten different Bulldogs had a hit during the game.

Leading the way was Gelwicks, who went 1-for-2 with two RBIs and a walk. Junior shortstop Griffin Richeson and junior right fielder Mike Hoscheit both had a pair of RBIs as well.

“We have a lot of parts we can put in to produce,” Richeson said. “We have been changing lineups, but we have 12 or 13 guys who can come in and do a good job.”

Junior Mike Hernandez picked up his third victory of the season by pitching six innings for Butler. He allowed three runs, one earned, on seven hits.

The first game of the doubleheader was headlined by the pitching of senior Jared Wagoner, as the Bulldogs shut out the Vikings, 11-0, in seven innings.

With the win, Wagoner improved his record to 4-3 this season. He went six innings, giving up just three hits while striking out six and walking none.

“I thought I pitched pretty well,” Wagoner said. “I was really efficient and I made pitches when I needed to.”

Freshman third baseman Patrick Guinane and senior shortstop Luke Duncan had three RBIs apiece in the win. Senior first baseman Grant Fillipitch turned in a strong performance at the plate as well, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs.

“It was great that all of our position players got the opportunity to get in the games and help us score a bunch of runs,” Farley said.

The opening game of the series featured more solid pitching for Butler, this time from senior Dom Silvestri, as the Bulldogs toppled Lawrence, 7-0.

Silvestri had little trouble with the Vikings’ lineup.

He threw seven scoreless innings, giving up three hits and striking out eight.

Butler provided support for Silvestri by putting up crooked numbers in the third and fourth innings.

Guinane was the top producer for Butler, driving home three runs with a single and a triple. Fillipitch tallied three hits and an RBI in the contest.

Butler’s scheduled game against Ball State yesterday was canceled due to weather.

The Bulldogs look to repeat their weekend success against conference foe UIC at home Friday and Saturday.

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