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Ninth-Inning Rally Leads Butler Past Indiana, 6-5
March 29, 2006
Sophomore Joe Pauley's long single to right-center scored Jeff Brown, capping a ninth-inning comeback for Butler and sent the Bulldog Park faithful home happy with a 6-5 win over Indiana Wednesday afternoon in Indianapolis. The Bulldogs pushed across three runs in the bottom of the ninth, using three hits and an Indiana error with two outs to take the win. With the victory, Butler improves to 9-12, while the Hoosiers fall to 7-11. Butler scored once in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game at three before IU put up a two-spot in the top of the ninth to re-take a 5-3 lead. With runners on first and third and two outs, IU's Keith Haas led off first base to draw a throw from Butler pitcher Josh Vollmer. Pinch-runner Trevor McConnell raced for home from third base and scored the go-ahead run. Josh Richardson then singled in Haas. The Bulldogs opened the ninth inning with back-to-back singles from Colin Ziegel and Alex Rinearson to put runners on the corners with no outs. Pinch-runner Nate Hart scored on a double-play ball that left the Bulldogs down 5-4 with two outs and no one aboard. Stephen Gill started the two-out rally with a bunt single. Brown then reached on an IU fielding error that pushed Gill to third base. Tony Barnes' single to left field scored Gill to tie the game before Pauley finished the contest with his walk-off single, scoring Brown.
Vollmer picked up the win for the Bulldogs, improving to 2-0 on the season. He was the eighth pitcher that Butler skipper Steve Farley used on the afternoon. Seven Butler pitchers threw one inning after starter Craig Costello allowed one Indiana run in two innings of work. IU's Tyler Tufts took the loss, falling to 0-2 on the season. He allowed five hits and three runs in 0.2 innings. Only one of the three ninth-inning runs was earned because of the two-out error. After IU got on the board first in the top of the second inning, Butler responded with a two-run single from Pauley in the bottom of the third to take a 2-1 lead. Indiana tied the game in the top of the sixth, scoring a run on three hits before taking the lead in the seventh on a sacrifice fly. Pauley went 2-for-5 at the plate, driving in three runs. Joe Dempsey and Dustin Bucalo each had two hits, as Butler ended with 13 base-knocks. The Hoosiers had 14 hits, including three apiece from Jay Brant, Tad Reida and Haas. Butler returns to action Saturday, hosting Cleveland State in a Horizon League weekend series. The teams are slated for a noon doubleheader Saturday before meeting Sunday at noon for a single game. The Bulldogs carry a 3-3 league record into the weekend, while the Vikings counter with an 0-3 conference mark. |
