INDIANAPOLIS, IND. -- Three Butler pitchers combined on back-to-back shutouts and the Bulldogs swept two run-shortened BIG EAST games from Georgetown by the identical scores of 8-0 on Saturday, April 18.  The victories on Butler's annual Strikeout Cancer Day lifted the Bulldogs to 20-22 on the year and 6-8 in the BIG EAST.

Butler hurlers Kristin Gutierrez, Mikeila Boroff and Kacey Starwalt were hitting their marks all afternoon.  Each Butler pitcher allowed just one hit, while combining for 10 total innings of work.  Gutierrez pitched all five innings of the first game and finished with three strikeouts and three walks.  Boroff threw the first four innings of the second contest, while Starwalt pitched the final inning.

All three Butler pitchers had ample offensive support.  Junior Alex Kotter and freshman Alyssa Lach each were perfect on the day at the plate.  Kotter finished with four hits and four runs batted in, while Lach had four hits and one RBI.  Junior Riley Carter chipped in with two hits and three RBIs, and senior Kristen Boros had three hits and two RBIs.  

"We put the ball in play.  We got some key hits and executed when we needed to in situational hitting," said Butler head coach Scott Hall.  "Our pitchers did a good job of adjusting, and when we keep the ball in the park, our defense does a good job of helping us.  Good pitching and good defense is tough to beat."

The Bulldogs jumped on top in the bottom of the first inning in the opener on a solo home run by Boros.  It was her team-leading eighth home run of the season and it proved to be the game-winner.

Butler built the margin to 4-0 lead through four innings and then closed out the game with a four-run rally in the bottom of the fifth.  Kotter finished off the eight-run rule with a two-run triple to right-center field.

Boros, Kotter and senior Sarah Gronowski each had a pair of hits in the opener, and Butler finished with 11 total hits as a team.

The Bulldogs then bolted to a 2-0 lead in the second game on a walk to Boros, a run-scoring double by Kotter and a run-scoring single by Chelsea Norwood.  The lead was 5-0 in the fourth inning when Carter capped off a three-run rally with a two-run double.

Starwalt came on in relief of Boroff in the top of the fifth inning and retired the first batter she faced, before giving up a single to left field.  She the finished the game with a ground ball to Boros, who turned it into a double-play.

Lach was three-for-three with a run scored and one RBI in the second game, while Kotter and Norwood each added a par of hits.

Butler and Georgetown (13-26, 3-9 BIG EAST) will wrap the three-game series with a single game on Sunday, starting at 10 a.m., at the Butler Softball Field.  The game will be broadcast on the BIG EAST Digital Network, with Mark Minner and former Butler softball player Mallory Winters on the call.