Butler has five-game win streak snapped by Cowley

Butler has five-game win streak snapped by Cowley

A close ball game turned into a late lopsided loss for the Butler baseball team on Wednesday at McDonald Stadium, as the Grizzlies fell 14-4 to No. 6-ranked Cowley County.

Butler managed to tie the game 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth and trailed 5-4 until the top of the ninth inning. That's when Cowley came up with nine straight runs, all coming with two outs. By the time the inning was over, Butler trailed by 10 runs. The big hit was a two-run home run by Mike Parker.

The Grizzlies could not score in the bottom of the ninth, snapping a five-game winning streak. Butler is now 10-10 on the season.  Cowley is now 22-4, having won 18 of its past 19.

The Tigers jumped to an early lead against Butler, as starting pitcher Jackson Rolfs gave up a three-run home run to Dylan Delso in the top of the first.

Connor Dempsey pitched the next three innings for Butler, allowing just one run. The Grizzlies trailed 4-0 going to the bottom of the fourth.

Butler broke out the bats in the fourth. Evan Koehler doubled and scored on an RBI double by Michael Cerullo, who just missed hitting a home run as the ball ricocheted off the top of the fence in right-center field. Two consecutive Cowley errors allowed Cerullo to score to make it a 4-2 game.

Levi Parker then came up with the biggest hit of the day for the Grizzlies, looping a single into left-center that drove in Shane Bridges and Trevor Ezell, tying the game 4-4.

Cowley would get one run in the top of the fifth on an RBI single by Dylan Delso off pitcher Greg Houser. That would prove to be the game-winning hit.

Houser took the loss for Butler, making him 1-3 on the season. The Grizzlies used six pitchers in the game. Among them, Kyle Vogt threw two scoreless innings and Brennan Walker pitched one scoreless inning.

Butler now will prepare for a four-game Jayhawk West conference series at home against Barton. The two teams will play a pair of doubleheaders, starting at 1 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.