The Butler baseball team moved to 3-2 on the season with a pair of road shutouts over the Independence Pirates on Sunday. The Grizzlies won the opener 5-0 as sophomore Travis Hendry hurled a complete-game shutout. Butler completed the sweep of the Pirates with a 2-0 victory in the second game.
Butler 5, Independence 0
Sophomore pitcher Travis Hendry tossed a complete game two-hit shutout in the first game. The left-hander went seven innings and struck out three batters with just one walk. Hendry kept the Pirates' offense at bay, as Independence had just six batters reach base but never advanced past second base.
While Hendry was dominant on the mound, his battery mate provided the offense, as sophomore catcher Tory Bell went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBIs - all coming on a three-run home run in the third inning.
Butler grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning off RBI singles from Evan Koehler and Gus Strunk. In the third, Levi Parker led off with a single, then Ty Moore reached first on an infield error. One batter later, Bell homered to give the Grizzlies a 5-0 lead.
Butler 2, Independence 0
In the nightcap, Micheal Cerullo and Tory Bell had RBIs while the Grizzlies used three pitchers to shut down the Independence offense.
With nobody out in the third inning, Cerullo put Butler on the board with an RBI triple to score Gus Strunk. The Grizzlies added an insurance run in the seventh when Bell singled to score Levi Parker.
Parker, Bell and Strunk all had two hits in the contest. Bell, who is hitting a team-high .444 (8-of-18), has hit safely in all five games this season.
Freshman starter Jackson Rolfs picked up his second win of the season, allowing just two hits in four innings while striking out two. Kyle Vogt came in for 1 2/3 innings of relief, followed by Trever Ezell, who earned the save as he threw the final 1 1/3 innings. The Butler trio combined to allow just six hits and fan five batters.
Next up for the Grizzlies will be a road contest at Northern Oklahoma-Enid on Tuesday at 1 p.m.
