The Bulldogs finished off a three-game sweep of visiting St. John's by taking both ends of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at the Butler Softball Field in Indianapolis.
The Bulldogs took the first game by a score of 4-1 before winning the second game, 8-2. The second game was called in the sixth inning to accommodate St. John's and their travel plans for this evening.
Following the weekend, Butler is now 13-14 overall and 5-7 in BIG EAST play. St. John's is 7-11 (4-7).
Alyssa Graves evened her record at 4-4 on the year with a strong outing in the first game, allowing only one run and two hits in her seven innings of work. She struck out four.
After St. John's scored a run in the top of the first, a two-out rally from the Bulldogs in the bottom half of the frame gave the home team a 2-1 advantage. The two runs came on back-to-back RBI singles from
Mallory McMahon and
Maddie Moore.
The pitchers traded zeros until the bottom of the sixth when the Bulldogs were able to push across a pair of insurance runs on
Zoe Herdman's single through the left side.
Butler had six hits in the contest, including two each from Herdman and
Mackenzie Griman.
Kayla Kmett took the loss for the Red Storm, allowing all six hits and four runs in 5.1 innings before giving way to reliever Angela Saric. Â
In the second game, Butler erupted for eight runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to erase a 1-0 deficit. The eight runs came on five singles, three walks and an error as the Bulldogs methodically went about their business.
Mackenzie Griman picked up her first win of the season (1-2), tossing five-plus innings and allowing both St. John's runs (both unearned). She struck out four while giving up only five hits.
Karli Ricketts came on in relief in the sixth inning to close the door.
Butler had only six hits in the game, including two each from Fey and
Bri Avery. It was Avery's two-run single that started the scoring for the Bulldogs in the fifth inning.
The Bulldogs return to action Tuesday with a non-conference game at Miami (Ohio).
Â
