Carbondale – In their mid-week matchup, the Butler Baseball team lost a close game to the Southern Illinois Salukis 10-8. This high-scoring bout was filled with hits on both sides. Butler outhit the Salukis 15-9 throughout the course of the game. On the pitching side, SIU's Alec Nigut was awarded the win while Butler's
Tate Foxson picked up the loss. SIU pitcher Kade Coombe got the save.
The Bulldogs effort on offense was fueled by the bats of
Carter Dorighi,
Billy Wurch, and
Drew Charney. The three each had two-RBI performances and Dorighi put together a four-hit day at the plate. The junior shortstop improved his season batting average to .360.
Scoring for the afternoon opened early in the first inning when the Bulldogs struck first. Wurch roped a two RBI double down the right-field line that scored Dorighi and
Joey Urban.
SIU then broke out for seven runs in the bottom of the frame. Their effort was highlighted by four straight walks at the plate followed by a single, double, and an RBI ground out to clear the bases.
The Bulldogs responded well in the top of the second inning with two more runs of their own. Dorighi hit home his first run of the game with a sac fly to left field which scored
Ian Choi. Later in the inning,
Xavier Carter singled to left for Urban to score his second run of the game.
After the Salukis added three runs in the fourth inning, Butler held them scoreless for the rest of the game. On offense, the bats reignited in the fifth inning when Charney hit a two-run homer to left field.
Ethan Vecrumba scored on the hit.
Butler continued their comeback effort by adding runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Vecrumba grounded out to hit home
AJ Solomon in the seventh inning. Dorighi added his second RBI of the day on a single to left field and
Jack Moroknek scored.
Tate Foxson,
Ben Whiteside,
Aidan Hatcher,
Gage Vota, and
Cole Graverson touched the mound for the Bulldogs on Tuesday afternoon. Across the last 4.2 innings, Hatcher, Vota, and Graverson kept the SIU bats quiet, allowing just three hits and zero earned runs.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will travel to Morehead, Kentucky to face off against the Morehead State Eagles in a three-game series. The series opener will be on Friday, March 1 with the first pitch at 3:00 p.m. ET.
