Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
LEXINGTON, SC – The Bulldogs recorded a 6-5 win over La Salle in game one, but suffered their first loss of the season in game two with a 4-0 setback to Ohio. Butler posted a 3-1 overall record over opening weekend getting off to their best start to a season since the 2007 campaign.
 
Butler used the long ball to pick up the one-run victory over La Salle on Sunday morning. Business picked up in the sixth inning with BU trailing La Salle 3-1. Gehrig Parker got the ball rolling with an RBI double that sent Michael Hartnagel around to score.
 
Moments later Michael DiViesti would clear the bases with a two-RBI home run that gave Butler a 4-3 lead. The second home run of the contest would come off the bat of Chris Maranto who gave BU a two-run cushion with his first round-tripper of the season.
 
The Explorers would fight back with two runs in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game at 5-5. A costly error and a few wild pitches would allow Rivera and Constantini to knot the scoreboard.
 
With the game on the line, the Bulldogs decided to pinch hit Duncan Hewitt for Sam Russo in the bottom of the eighth inning. The decision turned out to be a great one as the true freshman hit a moon shot over the wall for the game-winning home run.
 
Connor Mitchell got the start and tossed five innings for BU, but the win would fall to Josh Goldberg. Mitchell struck out six over five frames and limited La Salle to just two hits. Jack Pilcher would get an inning under his belt in relief before handing the ball off to Goldberg. The final arm to be used out of the BU bullpen would be Chris Myjak who picked up his first save of the young season. Myjak got the final two outs of the game to secure the win.
 
The second game of the day and fourth of the weekend would go to the Ohio Bobcats who recorded nine hits to generate four runs while slowing down the Butler bats for the shutout win.
 
Garrett Christman took the mound for Butler and was touched up with a solo home run in the first inning to give the Bobcats a quick 1-0 advantage. The lead would grow to 3-0 after two full innings with Ohio getting an RBI double from Garcia and an RBI single from Finkler that sent Garcia to the dish.
 
The final run of the ballgame crossed home plate in the fifth inning as Vakuda supplied Ohio with an RBI single to right field that scored Bourn.
 
The Bulldogs were limited to just four hits, all four of which came from a different player. Ohio used four arms on the day with Klein and Colletti coming together for the first six. That duo only allowed one hit and struck out seven.
 
Colletti got the win while Christman wore the loss. Kevin Napoleon Luke Johnson and Danny Pobereyko also took the rubber for BU in the getaway game.
 
Butler will return to the diamond this weekend with a four-game series at Alcorn State. The Braves are 2-1 after opening weekend with wins against Prairie View A&M and Southern. They will face Murray State on Monday at Noon.