EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The Butler baseball team picked up a 6-4 win over Creighton in the 2018 BIG EAST opener. BU tied the game at 3-3 with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth inning, but the eighth inning would tell the story with BU scoring three runs off four hits to earn the two-run victory.
Josh Walker (2-0) got the win while the loss fell to Grant Spranger (1-1). Butler recorded 12 hits on the day compared to 10 from the Bluejays. The 'Dawgs limited Creighton to just four runs with Creighton leaving 10 runners on base.
Connor Mitchell got the start and would strike out seven Bluejays in five innings of work. BU turned to
Sam Hubbe in the sixth for 1.2 innings of relief. Walker would be the last Bulldog to touch the rubber by collecting the final seven outs of the game.
The offense was highlighted by
Harrison Freed and
Garrett Christman. Freed went 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and a team-high three RBI. Christman led BU with three hits. He and
Michael Hartnagel each scored two runs.
BU broke onto the scoreboard in the top of the third inning. Back-to-back singles from
Zach Parker and
Zach Jarosz would give Butler two on with no out.
Jacob Margroff would execute a sac bunt to advance each base runner and an RBI groundout from
Tyler Houston would score Parker.
The sixth was highlighted by Freed's two-out, two-RBI double down the leftfield line. Hartnagel and Christman scored on the extra base hit. Hartnagel drew a base on balls while Christman singled to right and would score from first base.
Hartnagel and Christman would impact the game once again in the eighth. Each player singled which would force CU into making a pitching change. Freed would connect with an RBI single back up the middle of the field and a sac bunt from
Connor Dall would advance both Christman and Freed into scoring position.
Christman would score on a passed ball, a play that also involved Freed moving to third.
Zach Parker would then give BU some insurance with an RBI single to right center.
BU and Creighton were forced to play at SIUE in Edwardsville, Ill. due to poor weather conditions in Omaha. The two clubs will meet again tomorrow at 2 PM.
