CLEARWATER, FLA. - Sparked by an energized offense, Butler won two of its final three outings on the team's Spring Break trip to Clearwater, Florida.  The Bulldogs defeated Iona, 8-0 in five innings, and Boston, 7-0, while dropping a narrow 8-7 decision to Massachusetts in games played on Saturday and Sunday, March 15-16.

The Bulldogs (7-15) unleashed 36 hits in the three games and scored as many runs as they had in their previous six contests.  The eight runs against Iona marked a season-high for Butler, while the seven runs against both Boston and Massachusetts matched the team's second-highest total of the year.

Sophomore lefthander Kristin Gutierrez went the distance in the circle in the two Butler wins and recorded her first two shutouts of the season.  She had 13 strikeouts in the two victories and allowed just four hits and three walks.

Butler started its closing three-game in Florida with a run-shortened victory over Iona.  The Bulldogs, led by junior Sarah Gronowski, unleashed a 14-hit attack in the game, while rolling up eight runs in five innings.  Gronowski was four for four in the game with a double, while junior Maria Leichty and sophomore Alex Kotter each went two for three in the win.

The Bulldogs continued to swing a hot bat against Boston, racking up 13 hits and seven runs to support the strong pitching of Gutierrez.  Kotter led the offense with three hits, including a double, and two runs batted in.  Gronowski and junior Kristen Boros each added a pair of hits.

The one loss in the three games went right to the wire.  Massachusetts scored an unearned run with one-out in the bottom of the seventh inning to break a 7-7 tie and claim the victory.  The Minutewomen took advantage of a one-out Butler error, a walk and a run-scoring single by Quianna Diaz-Patterson to secure the win.

The Bulldogs had rallied from a 5-1 deficit and tied the game with four runs in the top of the sixth inning.  UMass answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth, but sophomore Riley Carter slammed a two-run, home run in the seventh to tie the game for a second time.

Carter led Butler's nine-hit attack with three hits and two runs scored.  Brandyce Sallee and Cassie Rupel each added a pair of hits for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs will return to Indianapolis and begin an eight-game homestand with a doubleheader against IUPUI on Tuesday, March  18.  The first game of that twinbill at the Butler Softball Field will start at 3 p.m.