INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler baseball team improved to 16-9 on the year with a 5-4 victory over Southern Illinois on Friday afternoon. Ryan Pepiot got his fourth win of the season on the mound after striking out a season-high 12 batters.
 
Pepiot went 6.2 innings vs. the Salukis and limited SIU to just two runs off two hits. He struck out 12 batters and only walked one. The walk came at the top of the seventh inning, marking Pepiot's first free base in his last 25 innings pitched.
 
The Bulldogs gave Pepiot run support early with two runs in the second and three more in the third. Nathan Dill helped BU jump on top with a double to left centerfield that scored Brody McGrath. Dill would come around to score off an RBI single from Zach Jarosz.
 
Southern Illinois would get that run back in the top of the third inning off back-to-back hits. Fugitt singled to center to send Alex Lyon home and make the score 2-1.
 
The third inning would play into the outcome with Butler scoring three runs highlighted by a two-run home run from Harrison Freed. Freed's round-tripper came with Gargano on base. The final run came from Dill on a hard hit ball to shortstop. He was thrown out at first, but got McCargar home for the game-winning run.
 
The game would tighten up in the seventh after Pepiot left the mound. The Salukis would string some hits together to get three runs on the board and cut the deficit to just one run.
 
Jack Myers would enter the game and get Butler out of further trouble. Head Coach Dave Schrage went with Jack Pilcher in the ninth. The call paid off with Pilcher collecting his second save of the season.
 
These two teams will go at it again tomorrow with a 12 PM start at Bulldog Park.