LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Butler opened up a 7-0 lead at Bellarmine on Tuesday afternoon and would use just two pitchers to collect a 7-4 victory against the Knights. Cole McDaniel (2-2) was credited with the win and Adrian Vega entered the game for his first save of the 2022 campaign.
 
McDaniel took care of the first 5.1 innings of the contest and didn't allow a Bellarmine hit until the fourth inning. He only struck out one, but put the Bulldogs in the driver's seat to record their 11th win of the season. Adrian Vega was also a big part of the equation for BU, throwing the final 3.2 innings of action. Vega struck out six during his time on the mound and only walked one.
 
Butler was led by Billy Wurch offensively. The BU second baseman went 2-for-2 with two doubles, two runs scored and a walk. Wurch didn't collect an RBI in the contest, but five of his teammates did; led by Aaron Steinhart with two.
 
Travis Holt and Steinhart opened up the scoring for the Bulldogs in the third inning. The visitors would own a 3-0 advantage with Holt singling through the left side to score Wurch and Steinhart pushing a ball through the right side of the infield which sent both Holt and Nick Ortega home.
 
BU took full control of the action in the fifth inning by scoring four more runs. Wurch scored on a wild pitch and Garret Gray would get an RBI on a single through the right side of the infield. Bellarmine made a pitching change early in the fifth and the new arm struggled to find the zone. Ryan O'Halloran and James Gargano each drew a base on balls with the bags loaded leading to the 7-0 score.
 
Only two of the four Knight runs went down as unearned in the scorebook. They broke up the shutout in the bottom of the fifth and pushed three runs across home plate in the sixth to take us to the final score of 7-4. Each club had six hits on the afternoon.
 
Butler will host a four game series against Eastern Illinois this weekend. There will be single games on Friday and Sunday with a doubleheader lined up for Saturday.