BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Butler took a 14-1 loss at Samford on Friday night in the 2016 season opener. The final score was not a great indicator of the game as a whole as the home team scored 10 of their 14 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to blow the game wide open.

The first run of the game crossed home plate in the bottom of the fourth inning off a sacrifice fly. Each team would go quietly in the fifth, but a disastrous sixth inning would lead Samford to victory.

Left-handed pitcher Jeff Schank gave up a single to start the inning followed by back-to-back doubles to the gaps. He was then quickly replaced by Brock Balderson who gave up four earned runs in his BU debut.

Balderson didn't record an out in the sixth before handing the ball off to Luke Johnson. That pitching change didn't help the outcome either as Johnson was hit with three earned runs without recording an out. Bobby Napoleon finally entered the game to get two outs and Tyler Rathjen was responsible for the third.

Nine hits went against BU in the sixth which resulted in the 10-run inning. The Bulldogs made two errors that didn't help their cause, but Samford did leave two on base.

Schank's line featured two strikeouts and no walks. Three of his four runs were earned as Samford collected seven hits over his five innings of work.

Samford's pitching was impressive throughout the final inning as they limited Butler to just one run on five hits.

Drew Small went 1-for-3 with a double and Chris Maranto was responsible for the lone BU RBI.

Nick Bartolone led off the top of the eighth and reached first after being walked. A lineout from Michael Hartnagel handed BU their first out of the inning, but Small stepped to the plate and delivered his double that moved Bartolone to third. Butler's first run of the season would come home during the next at-bat as Maranto's shot back to the mound would make him out number two in the inning, but was good enough to get Bartolone to the dish.

The Bulldogs will have two more chances to grab a win tomorrow as they face Samford in a scheduled doubleheader. First pitch for game one is set at 2 PM.