2016 NCAA Tournament - Lexington Regional
Hosted by the University of Kentucky
May 20-22, 2016
Butler travels to Lexington, Ky., for the Regional games of the 2016 NCAA Tournament. The four-team regional is hosted by Kentucky, the #9 overall seed in the tournament. In addition to Butler, Utah and Illinois have also been assigned to the Lexington Regional. The format is double-elimination with one team advancing to next weekend's SuperRegionals. Butler opens play against Kentucky Friday at 6 p.m. All games will be aired on ESPN3, which is through the Watch ESPN app. ESPNU will also be cutting in and out of games throughout the country all weekend, including the contests in Lexington.
Kentucky's Championship Central Page including event information
Schedule:
Friday, May 20
Game 1 – Illinois vs. Utah – 3:30 p.m. ET – ESPN3, Watch ESPN app, ESPNU Whip Around
Game 2 – Kentucky vs. Butler – 6 p.m. ET – ESPN3, Watch ESPN app, ESPNU Whip Around
Saturday, May 21
Game 3 – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 – 1 p.m. ET – ESPN3, Watch ESPN app, ESPNU Whip Around
Game 4 – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 – 3:30 p.m. ET – ESPN3, Watch ESPN app, ESPNU Whip Around
Game 5 – Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 – 6 p.m. ET – ESPN3, Watch ESPN app, ESPNU Whip Around
Sunday, May 22
Game 6 – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 – 1 p.m. ET – ESPN3, Watch ESPN app, ESPNU Whip Around
Game 7 – (If necessary) – 3:30 p.m. ET – ESPN3, Watch ESPN app, ESPNU Whip Around
FIRST-TIMERS: The Bulldogs (28-22) secured the program's first NCAA Tournament berth by winning the BIG EAST Tournament over the weekend. The BIG EAST Tournament brings the top four teams together for a single-elimination bracket. It was also Butler's first time making the BIG EAST Tournament as Butler tied for the fourth spot in both 2014 and 2015 (Butler's first two seasons in the BIG EAST), but the Bulldogs were left at home due to tiebreakers.
DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK: In the single-elimination BIG EAST Tournament, Butler allowed a grand slam in each of the two games before coming back to win. Butler faced a 6-2 deficit through four innings on Friday against top-seeded DePaul in the semifinals, and a 6-0 disadvantage through two innings against St. John's in the championship game.
With an 8-6 lead over St. John's heading into the bottom of the seventh inning in the championship game, the Red Storm scored two runs to tie the game at eight. St. John's had a runner on third with only one out. Butler coach Scott Hall intentionally walked the bases loaded and Kristin Gutierrez was able to induce back-to-back popouts to push the game to extra innings and an eventual 10-8 Butler win.
MOST OUTSTANDING: In the two games, Sarah Dixon slugged 2.000 and had four hits in five at-bats (in addition to drawing four walks) to earn Most Outstanding Player honors at the BIG EAST Tournament. Dixon's bases-clearing triple in the fifth inning Friday helped Butler turn a 6-2 deficit into a 9-6 lead, eventually winning the game 10-6. In Saturday's win over St. John's, Butler was once again down (6-0) and Dixon's two-run homer in the sixth inning gave Butler its first lead at 8-6. Dixon would score the eventual game-winning run in extra innings as Butler won 10-8 in eight innings.
ALL-TOURNEY: Outfielder Sarah Dixon was joined on the All-Tournament Team by teammates Kristin Gutierrez, Kaitlin Doud and Riley Carter.
TAKING ADVANTAGE: Butler's 20 runs came on 16 hits in the two BIG EAST Tournament wins. Brandyce Sallee, Butler's second-leading hitter, went only 1-for-9 in the two games, but her hit was the biggest one of the game, a two-run double in the eighth inning of the championship game to score two runs and give Butler the 10-8 win. Butler won two games despite their pitchers posting 5.88 and 7.35 ERAs, respectively. Butler batted .360 (9-25) with two outs in the two games.
Butler won both contests this weekend despite allowing six runs in the semifinal to DePaul and eight runs in Saturday's championship game. Entering the BIG EAST Tournament, Butler was 3-8 in games where they had allowed six or more runs.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION: Butler scored 10 runs in each of their contests in the BIG EAST Tournament for 20 runs in two games. In Butler's previous 11 games leading into the BIG EAST Tournament, the Bulldogs scored 26 runs.
Including the two BIG EAST Tournament games, Butler has scored 10 or more runs seven times in 50 games this season.
WELL RESTED: Butler entered the BIG EAST Tournament having played only once in two weeks. The Bulldogs traveled to Washington, D.C., on the last weekend of the regular season but had all three scheduled games with Georgetown washed out.
MISSING MAGGIE: Butler was forced to play without Maggie MacBeth in the BIG EAST Tournament. The redshirt freshman missed the games in Rosemont, Ill., due to illness. MacBeth's .391 batting average ranks third in the BIG EAST. Her 61 hits this season broke the Butler mark for hits in a single season.
In her 46 games this season, she has had multiple hits in 20 games while only going hitless in 13.
NATIONAL HONORS: The redshirt freshman was selected as one of the Top 25 freshmen in the country, earning a spot on the prestigious 2016 Schutt Sport / NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year Top 25 list. The list was announced by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association April 21.
POWER SURGE: The Bulldogs had three home runs in their two weekend games as part of the BIG EAST Tournament. Sarah Dixon, Kaitlin Doud and Cheyenne Thompson all went deep in the contests. Entering those games, Butler had only 15 homers in 48 games.
LOAD, CLEAR, REPEAT: In the fifth inning Friday against top-seeded DePaul, Butler twice loaded the bases to clear them with a timely hit. Senior Riley Carter doubled in three runs and was joined on the basepaths by two teammates, all three of which scored on Sarah Dixon's triple.
THE BIG INNING: Butler scored six runs in the top of the sixth Saturday in the championship game against St. John's to turn a 6-2 Red Storm lead entering the frame into an 8-6 Butler advantage. The Bulldogs used a seven-run fifth inning in Friday's semifinal to take a 9-6 lead.
ALL-BIG EAST: Butler's Maggie MacBeth and Kristin Gutierrez earned first and second team, respectively, as the All-BIG EAST teams were announced last week. The awards were determined by a vote of the league's coaches.
IN THE CIRCLE: Senior Kristin Gutierrez leads the BIG EAST in ERA at 2.18.
50/50: Freshman Kaitlin Doud and sophomores Sarah Dixon and Alyssa Lach have started all 50 games for Butler. Brandyce Sallee and Cheyenne Thompson have started 49 of the team's 50 contests.
LOCAL TIES: Butler men's basketball coach Chris Holtmann, who on Wednesday signed a contract extension with the school through the 2021-22 season, is originally from Nicholasville, Ky., which is less than 30 minutes from Lexington, the site of this weekend's regional.
CHAMPION CAMPAIGN: The 2016 Butler Softball team is the second team to win a BIG EAST title since the Bulldogs joined the new-look conference for the 2013-14 academic year. The Butler women's soccer program, also as a #4 seed in the conference tournament, won the 2015 event and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Butler's men's basketball team has appeared in the NCAA Tournament in both 2015 and 2016 as an at-large selection.
LEADER OF THE PACK: Butler is led by coach Scott Hall, who is in his sixth season at the helm of the Bulldogs. Entering weekend play, he has a 155-157 record at Butler. Against BIG EAST opponents over the past three years in the regular season, the Bulldogs are 28-29. Hall arrived at Butler as one of the most successful high school coaches in Indiana, boasting a record of 285-87 over 12 seasons, including the last 10 at Pendleton Heights High School. Current Bulldogs Krosley Ogden and Sarah Dixon were part of the Pendleton Heights program.
