INDIANAPOLIS, IND. -- Strong pitching by junior Kristin Gutierrez and clutch hits by senior Kristen Boros and sophomore Brandyce Sallee helped lift Butler to a 4-3 victory over Seton Hall in a BIG EAST game on Saturday, April 25.  The game, originally scheduled as part of a doubleheader, was delayed by rain for nearly five hours.

Gutierrez pitched her 14th complete game and improved to 12-11 on the season.  She finished with four strikeouts, two walks and allowed just five hits.  With the Bulldogs clinging to a 4-3 lead, the Butler left-hander retired the final four batters she faced to secure the win. 

The victory lifted the Bulldogs to 23-23 on the year and 8-8 in the BIG EAST.

"It was huge," said Butler head coach Scott Hall of the performance of Gutierrez.  "She fighting forearm tightness every game, but she continues to battle.  She left some balls over the plate and they hit them out.  But she hung in there on a cold day."

Boros gave the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead with a three-run, home run in the third inning.  It was her team-leading ninth round-tripper of the year.  And Sallee drove in an insurance run, which proved to be the game-winner, with a two-out double in the fifth frame.

Seton Hall (20-25, 6-9 BIG EAST) scored all three of its runs came with the long ball.  Senior Danielle DeStaso, who started in the circle for the Pirates, hit solo home runs in the fourth and sixth innings, and freshman Alexis Walkden added a solo shot in the sixth.

The second home run by DeStaso closed the gap to 4-3 with two outs in the top of the sixth, but Gutierrez retired catcher Alex Rabbetts to end the inning.   The Butler ace then retired all three batters she faced in the seventh inning to give the Bulldogs their eighth win in the last nine games.

"We made some good defensive plays," added Hall of his team's effort.  "We have to execute better on some short game stuff, but for the most part it was really a good team effort."

Junior Krosley Ogden led the Bulldogs with a pair of hits in the game, while Boros scored two of Butler's four runs.

The two teams will play the second game of the series at 11 a.m. (ET) on Sunday (April 26) and then wrap-up the three-game set at 1 p.m.  Butler will pay tribute to the four senior members of this year's team, Boros, Sarah Gronowski, Cassie Rupel and Maria Leichty, prior to the first game of the twinbill.