OMAHA, Neb. – After opening the three-game BIG EAST series with Creighton in victory, Butler fell to the Blue Jays in game two as the series evened up at one game apiece. The Bulldogs struggled at the plate and gave up runs in the first, fifth, sixth, and eighth innings as they succumbed by a final score of 11-1.
Butler's only run of the day came in the top of the ninth inning. After the Bulldogs had loaded the bases,
Carter Dorighi put a ball into play toward first base, pushing
Brett Sherrard home from third.
Creighton used a walk and a single to score one run in the first inning, and that 1-0 lead held through four complete. In the fifth, a pair of doubles produced one run and forced Butler to insert
Grant Brooks on the mound in place of starter
Ben Whiteside. A subsequent throwing error on an infield single allowed two more runs to score, pushing the Blue Jays' lead to 4-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, Creighton plated three on a walk, a hit batter, and a pair of hits and were still working with just one out. The Bulldogs went to the bullpen again, replacing Brooks with
Shane Kilfoyle. This change did not end the threat, as the Blue Jays put up two more by the end of the inning, extending the lead to 9-0.
The Bulldogs went with
Gage Vota on the mound in the seventh. He pitched one scoreless inning but then gave up a pair of runs in the eighth on four hits.
Six Bulldogs combined for seven hits on the day, with
Zach Munton producing a pair of singles.
Jack Moroknek's double, in the top of the first, was Butler's only extra-base hit of the afternoon.
Ben Whiteside (1-1) gave up four runs in 4.1 innings and took the loss for the Bulldogs, while Chad Saner (1-0) pitched five scoreless innings and picked up his first victory this season for Creighton.
Butler falls to 13-15 on the season and 1-1 in BIG EAST play, while the Blue Jays are now 23-5, also 1-1 in conference action.
The Bulldogs remain in Omaha for Sunday's rubber match of the three-game series with Creighton. First pitch is scheduled for noon eastern (11 a.m. central).
