ALVA, Okla. – Butler baseball opened the 2020 regular season with a pair of road victories over Northwestern Oklahoma State JV on Monday at Myers Field.

With both games scheduled for seven innings, Butler (2-0 overall) held off a late Rangers rally for a 5-4 win in Game 1, then earned the sweep in a 9-2 victory in the nightcap.

In Game 1, Dylan Werries scored twice, stole three bases and walked twice in the Grizzlies' season-opening won. Colby Standard provided the big bat in the second game by going 2-for-4 with four RBIs, while freshman Jackson Syring scored four runs, stole two bases and went 2-for-4 in the seven-run win.

Butler returns to action Saturday with a home non-conference doubleheader against Coffeyville. The Grizzlies were scheduled to play the Red Ravens in a single nine-inning game Thursday, but with snow projected in the upcoming forecast, the game was moved to El Dorado as part of a doubleheader. Saturday's first pitch from McDonald Stadium is at 1:00 p.m.

Game 1 – Butler 5, Northwestern Oklahoma State JV 4

The Grizzlies jumped in front early with a three-run first inning against Rangers starter Kyle Moran. Sophomore shortstop Dylan Werries started the scoring after drawing a one-out walk, stealing second and scoring on a throwing error as NWOSU failed to turn a double play.

With runners at first and second and two outs, Austin Portner singled to right field to score Brandon Ryan, then Josh Cameron doubled down the left-field line to plate Ryan for a 3-0 Grizzly lead.

Butler added two more runs in the fifth inning with speed on the base paths. Identical to his plate appearance, Werries walked with one out, then stole both second and third base. Werries then scores on an RBI single to left by Colby Standard. After moving to second on a groundout, Standard swiped third base when he caught the Rangers napping on a ball four issued to Portner, which put runners at the corners with two outs.

Butler then executed a delayed double-steal, as Standard broke for home following a throwdown at second base in an unsuccessful attempt to nab Portner.

Grizzly starter Dillan Janak and Nate Adler were solid on the mound in limited fashion. Janak (1-0) threw 40 pitches and struck out four in a two-inning stint, giving up just two hits in the first inning. Adler made quick work with 39 pitches in three innings, allowing one earned run on three hits and fanning two batters.

With Butler up 5-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, NWOSU broke the Grizzlies' shutout bid when Chase Sawyer hit a two-out double to right field off Adler to score Preston Lonadier.

Freshman pitcher Garrett DeHaas worked the final two innings, allowing one baserunner in the sixth, then running into a bases-loaded jam to open the Rangers' seventh. DeHaas gave up two earned runs on one hit, walked three and struck out one.

NWOSU's Jose Rubalcava led off the inning with a single up the middle, then DeHaas walked Angel Perez and Lonadier to load the bases. Sawyer then lined a ball off Butler second baseman Thomas Beiswanger, which allowed Rubalcava to score. The Rangers scored two runs off of consecutive groundouts before a groundout to third ended the game.

Werries finished with two runs scored, three stolen bases and two walks in the contest, while Standard, Ryan, Portner and Cameron all had RBIs in the win.

Game 2 – Butler 9, Northwestern Oklahoma State JV 2

Butler broke a 3-2 game wide open with a five-run sixth inning to earn the doubleheader sweep over the Rangers.

The Grizzlies grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, as Jackson Syring led off with a single to right field, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and scored when Colby Standard singled up the middle.

NWOSU tagged Butler starter Isack Tiger for their only two runs of the contest in the bottom of the inning as Chase Sawyer hit a single up the middle to drive in Angel Perez, then Jacob Miller tripled to center to score Perez for a 2-1 lead.

Butler tied the game with a two-out run in the third inning, as Garrett DeHaas hit an infield single to short, then moved to second on the play from a throwing error from NWOSU's Rubalcava. With Austin Portner batting, DeHaas advanced to third on a wild pitch, then scored when Portner reached first on another Rubalcava throwing error. 

In the fourth, Butler took back the lead at 3-2 on a Standard RBI single to right. The score was created when Syring singled up the middle with one out, stole second base and then scored on Standard's single.

Butler maintained the one-run lead until exploding with five runs in the fifth inning, as the Grizzlies took advantage of three Ranger errors.

Jean Morillo led off the Butler sixth by reaching first when Ranger right fielder Ethan Montgomery dropped a routine fly ball. Morillo moved to second on a wild pitch, then Elijah Pearlman drew a five-pitch walk. Syring then drove in a run when his grounder to the left side went off Rubalcava's glove and into left field, allowing Morillo to score but resulting in Pearlman getting thrown out at third for trying to take an extra base.

With Syring at second, Dylan Werries followed with a single to left to put runners at the corners with one out. Standard drove in his third run of the game after beating out a throw from NWOSU third baseman Jacob Miller, who was charged with an error by bobbling the grounder before firing a late throw.

Garrett DeHaas walked to load the bases, which forced the Rangers to make a pitching change. Austin Portner followed with a sacrifice fly to score Werries, then Cache Stone tripled to right field to score Standard and DeHaas for an 8-2 lead.

Butler added another two-out run in the seventh as Syring was hit by a pitch, advanced to second base after a Werries walk, then scored as Standard reached first on an infield error.

After giving up two runs in the opening frame, Butler's pitching staff limited NWOSU to just one hit for the final six innings. Izack Tiger allowed two earned runs on three hits in the first inning, but recorded two of his three strikeouts in a 1-2-3 second inning.

Cade Phelps, Dylan Richey and Zach Nagel combined to retire the final 13 batters. Phelps (1-0) came on in the third inning, as the southpaw gave up just one hit and striking out three batters in two innings of work. Richey retired six straight batters over the fifth and sixth innings, then Nagel struck out two batters in the seventh.