The Bulldogs opened weekend play in College Station, Texas with an impressive 4-0 win over Iowa before falling, 10-1, to the host Texas A&M Aggies, who are ranked No. 6 nationally.

With the split, Butler is now 2-5 on the season. The Bulldogs have three games remaining this weekend as part of the Texas A&M Invitational.

Freshman Alyssa Graves posted the most impressive outing of her young career with Friday's shutout. It doubled as the first win of her Butler career. Graves allowed the Hawkeyes only three hits. She walked one Iowa batter and two reached on Butler errors.

All four of Butler's runs came in the top of the first inning, highlighted by a three-run home run by junior Kaitlin Doud. Alyssa Lach pushed a bunt down the third-base line with runners on first and third and one out to score Butler's first run. Doud then homered to center field.

Jenna Foreman had two of the Bulldogs' seven hits.

Against Texas A&M, Butler loaded the bases in the top of the first inning with two outs. Sammy Andersen singled to center field to score Madi Christiansen, but the Aggies threw out a runner attempting to advance to third before the second Bulldog could cross home plate. That ended the top of the inning with Butler leading, 1-0.

The sixth-ranked Aggies would put together three runs in the first and four runs in the second to take control of the game. Three runs in the bottom of the fourth would give TAMU a cushion (10-1) that just needed three outs in the top of the fifth to end the game.

Tori Vidales had two home runs and five RBI for the Aggies. Maddie MacGrandle allowed the Bulldogs five hits in five innings of work to pick up the win.

Gabbi Schnaiter took the loss (1-1) for the Bulldogs. She pitched the first three innings. Ambry Turpen pitched the fourth inning in relief.

The Bulldogs return to action Saturday in Texas with a pair of games. Butler will once again meet Iowa (10 a.m. Central) before facing Tulsa later in the day (5:15 p.m. Central). Sunday's single game is a rematch with Texas A&M.