ST. LOUIS – The Butler baseball team got off to a hot start on Saturday afternoon at Saint Louis and walked away with an 8-6 victory. BU scored three runs over the opening two innings and added five runs in the middle stages of the game with three in the fifth and two more in the sixth.

Nick Morton earned the win on the mound for BU moving his overall record to 1-1. Morton tossed the first five innings of the game and handed the ball off to Luke Johnson who took care of the next two innings. The save opportunity would go to Zach Barnes who recorded the final six outs of the game. Barnes was lights out over the final two frames. He earned his third save of the year by blanking the Billikens and adding two strikeouts.

From the plate, Chris Maranto went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Connor Dall was also in the box score with a 2-for-4 day from the plate and an RBI.

Maranto allowed Butler to get out in front with a two-run first inning. With runners at second and first and no outs, Maranto laid down a bunt that moved each runner. A throwing error by the Billiken starting pitcher would open the scoring as Drew Small came all the way around to score the first run of the game.

Josh Moore would get the first out of the game with a strikeout, but a wild pitch during the next at-bat would double the BU score. Moore got out of further trouble by striking out the final two batters of the inning.

Butler's next run would come home in the top of the second off an RBI double to left centerfield from Michael DiViesti. Garrett Christman led off the second with a single to right and the speedy shortstop would score off the extra base hit from DiViesti.

The Billikens would tie the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Bulldogs would respond with three runs in the top of the fifth. Drew Small and Chris Maranto would reach base on balls at the start of the inning and a double from Jordan Lucio would score Small and move Maranto to third.

The second out of the inning would follow the Lucio double, but the Bulldogs would be able to add two more runs during Connor Dall's at-bat. Dall singled up the middle to score Maranto and the second run would score off a Saint Louis throwing error.

Butler would score two more runs in the sixth which would come in huge in the final outcome. Maranto delivered a two RBI double down the right field line. Small and Cole Malloy scored on the two-out clutch hit.

The Billikens scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth, but would be shut down late in the game by Barnes. Josh Bunselmeyer hit a two-run bomb to left center to score the first two runs of the inning and a sac fly from Trent Leimkuehler would cap off the inning.