Box Score
INDIANAPOLIS – The Eastern Illinois Panthers defeated Butler on Tuesday afternoon by the final score of 15-5. A grand slam in the top of the sixth highlighted a five-run inning and led the away team to victory.
Butler recoded seven hits on the day, a total doubled by EIU.
Garrett Christman led BU with a 2-for-3 day from the plate.
Eastern Illinois jumped on the scoreboard first with a single run in the top of the first. Joseph Duncan turned the first pitch of the game into a double down the leftfield line. The ball hit the bag and jumped into the air, rolling into the outfield.
A deep fly ball to right would allow Duncan to tag up and reach third base. He would come all the way around to score on a sac fly from Logan Beaman.
Butler didn't blink as the Bulldog bats created three runs off two hits in the bottom half of the frame. Cole Berry had some control issues for the Panthers and BU would take advantage of it to take the lead. Berry walked the first three batters of the game, but would get an out with
Zach Jarosz trying to steal second base.
Tyler Houston would score the first run of the game off a wild pitch and
Michael Hartnagel would add to his season RBI total with a base knock that scored
Gehrig Parker. Butler's final run of the first could come off a double from freshman
Harrison Freed. Freed found room down the leftfield line and scored Hartnagel from first base.
The lead wouldn't last long however as EIU posted two runs in the top of two. Perrone and Smith would each score with two outs on the board. That half inning was highlighted by a hard hit double from Duncan, his second double of the game.
EIU struck again in the fourth inning to regain the lead. Albert led off with a single and would move around to score off an RBI from Curran. A deep sac fly to center would make the score 5-3 as Curran reached home plate.
EIU would put the pressure on BU again in the fifth inning, but a nice 4-3 double play from Jarosz would get Butler out of a bases loaded one out situation. Jarosz played the ball off one hop and stepped on the bag. His throw to Lucio was picked just in time to turn two.
Fans at Bulldog Park saw the bases loaded again in the bottom of the fifth.
Michael DiViesti walked to lead off the inning and he would be joined on base by
Garrett Christman and
Tyler Houston who each came up with singles. Eastern Illinois got out of trouble by getting Parker to fly out to left and having Hartnagel pop up to the pitcher.
Back-to-back walks to open up the top of the six spelled trouble for Butler as EIU moved ahead 6-3. Both base runners would advance on a wild pitch and a deep sac fly from Govern would score Smith.
Two more walks later in the inning would load the bases with two gone. Albert would see a pitch he liked and blow the game open with a grand slam to center. It was his 15th home run of the season.
The 10-3 lead moved to 11-3 in the seventh with a sac fly to right. Parks smashed his 17th homer of the year in the eighth to give EIU a nine-run cushion. The Panthers would add another run in the eighth off a passed ball.
Butler added a run in the eighth and a run in the ninth to round out the scoring.
Alex Horowitz would generate the run for Butler in the bottom of the eighth and
Kyle Niemiec would cross home for BU in the ninth.
Butler will return to action on Thursday with a home game against Creighton. Game one of the three game series will feature a 4 PM first pitch.
