Butler dropped a 3-0 result to visiting Eastern Illinois Wednesday afternoon in Indianapolis. The Bulldogs' home schedule is only left with a series with St. John's to end the regular season in early May.

Eastern Illinois scored two runs in the top of the first inning and added a single run in the third to account for all their scoring. The Panthers were able to capitalize on four stolen bases and three wild pitches early in the contest to get on the scoreboard.

EIU starter McKenna Coffman kept the Bulldogs at bay, allowing just two hits and a walk in six innings of work. She improves to 4-10 on the season. Hannah Cravens pitched a perfect seventh inning for her first save of the season.

Butler starter Alyssa Graves took the loss (5-12), surrendering three runs in four innings of work. She struck out eight Panthers. Freshman Karli Ricketts came on in relief for the final three innings in the circle.

Megan Burton had two of the Panthers' seven hits, and scored two runs for the visitors.

Butler's hits came from Kaitlin Doud and Payton Longest.

Butler is now 14-25 on the season, while Eastern Illinois improves to 13-35.

The Bulldogs head west to Omaha, Neb., for a three-game, BIG EAST series with Creighton that includes a Friday doubleheader and Saturday single game. That begins a seven-game stretch across two weeks that has the Bulldogs away from Indianapolis prior to the St. John's series May 4-5.

Creighton and Butler currently hold the seventh and eighth positions, respectively, in the BIG EAST standings. There are three weekend series remaining for all conference teams as the top four in the BIG EAST standings will qualify for the 2019 BIG EAST Tournament.