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Bulldogs Finish Strong at Rebel Spring Games
March 18, 2006 By winning five of its final seven games at the Rebel Spring Games in Orlando, Butler carries a good deal of momentum into its home opener Tuesday against Ball State. The Bulldogs own an 8-6 overall record following their annual Spring Break trip to Orlando. Butler split 12 games in Florida. Butler 3, Tennessee-Martin 2 (Nine Innings) Junior Jamie Wonderly had an impressive outing against Tennessee-Martin Wednesday, allowing just one earned run in nine innings of work. She scattered nine hits to improve to 2-1 on the season. Down 1-0 in the bottom of the third, Butler responded with a single run to tie the game. Freshman Annie Dolan doubled to lead off the frame and was doubled in one batter later by junior Jill Meinhold. The teams traded scoreless innings until the eighth when each team was able to push across a run using the international tiebreaker where a runner is placed on second base to start the inning. For Butler, once again it was Meinhold with the heroics as her one-out single scored Amy Hyerczyk. Meinhold went 2-for-3 on the day with two RBIs. After holding UTM scoreless in the top of the ninth, JoAnna Gonzalez was placed on second base for the bottom half of the inning. After being sacrificed to third and with the second out coming on a line drive to the pitcher, catcher Tara Long singled in Gonzalez for the game-winner. Butler 2, Fairfield 1 (Eight Innings) Just like the first game Wednesday, the nightcap also required extra innings. Fairfield pushed across a run in the fifth inning. Sophomore Nikki Naffziger got the start in the circle and allowed just five hits in four-plus innings before Meghan Howard relieved her in the fifth. Howard allowed two hits in the fifth inning before pitching perfect innings in the sixth, seventh and eighth frames.
Hyerczyk tied the score with a homerun in the top of the seventh. In the top of the eighth, Angie Johnson walked with one out before freshman Lindsay Schluge came through with a base hit. With two outs and Johnson on third, Gonzalez plated her with a triple that proved to be the game-winner after Howard thwarted the Stags with a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth. Butler 5, Army 2 Against the Black Knights, Wonderly had a no-hitter going until two outs in the sixth. In the top of the seventh, she gave up a lead-off double that led Butler coach Angie Nicholson to call on Howard in relief. Army followed with two hits, so Wonderly came back on to finish, allowing a walk before retiring the final two batters. Offensively for Butler, the Bulldogs put up a three-spot in the first inning. Gonzalez and Alex Boros had one-out hits and scored on Jenny Jacobs' squeeze bunt and subsequent throwing error by Army. Jacobs scored on an RBI groundout by Long. Butler also posted single runs in the second and fourth innings. Boros and Gonzalez each went 2-for-4 for the Bulldogs. Butler 7, Bucknell 3 Butler rattled off its first straight win with a 7-3 decision over Bucknell Thursday. Naffziger pitched the complete game, allowing just five hits to improve to 2-1 on the season. Boros led the Butler offense, going 4-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. Johnson also had a good day at the plate, going 3-for-3. Down 2-1 after four innings, Butler plated five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to solidify the win. Ten Bulldogs came to the plate in the inning that saw Butler piece together four hits, two walks and a Bucknell error to do the damage. Wagner College 9, Butler 0 (Five Innings) Wagner College jumped on Butler for eight runs over the first three innings. WC used nine hits and three Bulldog errors to post the 9-0 win in just five innings. Wonderly (3-2) took the loss. Schluge, Boros and Hyerczyk had the three Butler hits--all singles. Rider 11, Butler 0 (Five Innings) Rider scored six runs in the first inning on four hits, three walks and three Butler errors. Butler ended the day by giving up nine hits and committing five errors. The Bulldogs open the home portion of their schedule in a big way, as the next five dates on the Butler slate are all home doubleheaders. Ball State comes to Indianapolis Tuesday (March 21) for a 2 p.m. twinbill. Bradley, Northern Illinois, IPFW and Purdue round out the eight-day homestand. |
