Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

The Bulldogs opened BIG EAST play by splitting a doubleheader against DePaul Saturday afternoon in Indianapolis at the Butler Softball Field. Butler rallied to take the second game, 7-4, after DePaul won the opener, 7-2, in 11 innings.

With the results, Butler is 12-17 on the season, while DePaul is 14-13. Both teams are 1-1 in BIG EAST play.

In the first game, Missy Zoch and Gabbi Schnaiter dueled for 11 innings. DePaul took a 2-0 lead with single runs in the third and fifth innings. Butler then tied the game on Maggie MacBeth's two-run double in the bottom of the fifth.

The teams would trade scoreless frames for the next five innings before DePaul put five on the board, largely based off a Nicole Pihl grand slam in the top of the 11^th.

MacBeth, Cheyenne Thompson and Jenna Foreman each had two of the Bulldogs' 10 hits. Schnaiter fell to 5-8 on the season, pitching the complete game in easily the longest outing of her young Butler career.

Butler would level the series with a win in the second game.

It was a five-run fourth that proved to be the difference. DePaul took a 3-2 lead with two runs in the top half of the inning before the Bulldogs batted around. Brandyce Sallee came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. Her single to center scored MacBeth and Alyssa Garcia. After a DePaul pitching change, Butler pushed across a run on a Madi Christiansen sacrifice fly and then Christina Candotti capped the scoring with a two-run blast over the left-center fence.

Kaitlin Doud picked up her third win of the season, allowing three earned runs in the complete game. She scattered eight hits and five walks.

Butler had 11 hits on the afternoon, with Sarah Dixon, Christiansen, Thompson, and Garcia each having two.

The teams finish out the three-game series Sunday with a single game slated to begin at noon. The game will be broadcast live on the BIG EAST Digital Network. Fans can also receive a rally towel commemorating Butler's 2016 BIG EAST championship.