INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler softball team battled from behind three times to tie the game with Providence and then walked off with a 4-3 victory. The dramatic moments in the seventh inning included a lead-off single by
Kieli Ryan and a run-scoring shot down the left-field line by
Paxton Law. Prior to the start of the game, with a first-pitch ceremony, both teams honored friends and family who have passed on from cancer as well as those who are still fighting the battle.
The Friars (28-17, 17-5 BIG EAST), who currently sit atop the conference standings, outhit the Bulldogs (23-18, 14-8 BIG EAST), 11-8, but both teams struggled over the course of the contest to push baserunners home. Providence stranded 10 runners in the first four innings but managed to get only one batter on base in the final three frames. Butler was retired with the bases loaded in both the third and fourth innings and stranded 11 total runners throughout the game. The teams combined for 18 singles in the game with only one extra-base hit, a Providence double.
In the top of the first inning, with two outs on the board, Providence hit four straight singles to take a 1-0 lead. In the bottom half, Butler tied the game at one apiece with a sacrifice fly.
In the third, the Friars added one run on a bases-loaded single, but the damage was limited, in part, by a runner thrown out at the plate. The Bulldogs tied the game, once again, in their half when Ryan hit a bases-loaded single to left field.
One inning later, Providence again loaded the bases. A hit-by-pitch batter pushed one across, but a subsequent double play by the Bulldogs ended the threat. The 3-2 Friars lead held through the fourth.
In the fifth inning, Providence had a runner on second when a fly ball was hit to the center-field wall.
Cate Lehner made a running catch, then relayed the ball to
Olivia Robards, whose throw reached Ryan at the plate prior to the runner. The ball was knocked from Ryan's glove, but the runner never touched the plate. Ryan recovered the ball and tagged the runner out for another double play.
In the Bulldogs' half of the fifth, with
Kayla Preiss on third,
Alona Boydston hit a sacrifice fly to left field. The game was once again tied, this time at three.
In the bottom half of the final inning, Ryan hit a lead-off single.
Rachel Hunt entered as a pinch runner at first base. After a foul out, an infield ground ball allowed Hunt to advance to second. With two outs, Law hit the sharp single down the third-base line that gave Butler the walk-off win.
Maren Berger (3.1-IP, 3R, 10H, 2BB, 3K) started in the circle for the Bulldogs and lasted into the fourth inning.
Alyx Johnson (5-1) provided relief and picked up the win. In 3.2 innings, she kept Providence off the board, allowing only one hit with one strikeout.
Bulldog Bits
- Ryan led Butler at the plate with two hits and one RBI.
- Hailey Conger, who also had a pair of hits, stole her 13th base of the season, which was the 26th of her career.
- Johnson's win in the circle was her fifth this season and her third in BIG EAST competition.
Up Next
Butler and Providence will play game two of the series on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. The Bulldogs will honor their seniors in a ceremony prior to the game.
