Butler baseball opened its 2020 home schedule Saturday in winning fashion with a pair of non-conference victories over Coffeyville at McDonald Stadium.

The Grizzlies (4-0 overall) avoided a no-hit bid in Game 1 by rallying late for a 2-1 nine-inning victory as Thomas Beiswanger scored both the tying and game-winning run, scoring the winner on an RJ Lara single with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Butler then shut out Coffeyville 4-0 in Game 2 behind a dominant two-hit combined effort from pitchers Nate Adler, Zach Chiolis and Braden Meek.

Butler is next scheduled to play three non-conference games in Edmond, Okla., at the University of Central Oklahoma, beginning with two games on Thursday – a 12:30 p.m. contest against #5 Cowley at noon, then face Redlands (Okla.) at 5:30 p.m. Butler finishes the Edmond trip with an 11:30 a.m. game against Northeastern Oklahoma A&M.

Game 1 – Butler 2, Coffeyville 1 (nine innings)

Both games Saturday were scheduled for seven innings, but Butler put in extra work for a come-from-behind win over the Red Ravens in the opening game.

RJ Lara delivered a game-winning single with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning off Ravens pitcher Chance Crowley.

Thomas Beiswanger led off the inning by lifting a fly ball to left field, which trickled off the glove of Coffeyville's Radford Beasley and allowed Beiswanger to reach second. Garrett DeHaas then grounded out to the pitcher, which moved Beiswanger up to third base.

Lara then delivered a 1-1 pitch through the right side of the infield to score Beiswanger to end the game.

Butler was in danger of being no-hit, as the Grizzlies were held without a hit for the first six innings. Beiswanger broke up the Ravens' no-hit bid with a one-one infield single off Coffeyville reliever Tayler Mahoney, as Beiswanger dove to first base to beat out Ravens second baseman Jackson Wilcox's throw. DeHaas came on to pinch hit and reached first base on a hit by a pitch, giving Butler runners at first and second.

Coffeyville nearly ended the game as Lara grounded out to second base, which forced DeHaas at second for the second out. With a double play avoided due to Lara reaching at first, Butler elected to send Beiswanger home on the play. The throw from Ravens shortstop Quinton Carlberg was well off the mark, allowing Beiswanger to slide home safely to tie the game at 1-all.

Coffeyville starter Alex Galvez silenced Butler's offense for the first five innings, as he did not allow a hit and struck out seven batters. Galvez walked four and hit a batter, but the Grizzlies could not get a runner past second base.

In the Butler sixth, Ravens reliever Mac Cheney allowed a leadoff walk to Colby Standard, but got Austin Portner to line out into an inning-ending double play to keep the no-hit bid intact.

Coffeyville scored its only run of the game in the first inning on a Trey McClelland double off Butler starter Dillan Janak. Jackson Wilcox led off the inning with a hit by pitch, then advanced to second when Easton Rindt singled through the left side. McClelland followed with a double to left field to plate Wilcox.

Following the first inning, the Ravens managed just four hits against Grizzly pitchers Janak, Izack Tiger and Cade Phelps and had only three baserunners reach third base in the final eight innings.

Janak threw three innings and allowed one run on four hits, walking two and striking out four. Tiger pitched four innings of one-hit shutout ball, fanning four and issuing one walk. Phelps (1-0) tossed the final two innings, giving up one hit, walking two and recording two strikeouts.

Game 2 – Butler 4, Coffeyville 0

Butler scored all four runs by taking advantage of Coffeyville miscues, with two runs coming home on wild pitches and the other two helped by infield errors.

The Grizzlies struck first in the opening frame as Jackson Syring led off with a double to center. Two batters later, Syring moved to third on a fly-out to right field, then scored on a 1-2 wild pitch by Ravens starter Frank Peterson.

Butler added two more runs in the fourth inning after loading the bases with two outs. Against Red Ravens reliever Dempsey Battin, Thomas Beiswanger delivered a one-out single to center, advanced to second on a balk, then moved to third when Battin threw a wild pitch on ball four to Jean Morillo, who followed with a steal of second base.

Coffeyville then made a change on the mound to Davis Gatling, who recorded a strikeout, but then hit Syring to load the bases. Gatling then fired a wild pitch to score Beiswanger from third base, then reloaded the bases after issuing a walk to Dylan Werries. The Ravens failed to get out of the inning after Wilcox failed to handle a throw on a forceout at second base, which plated Morillo for a 3-0 Butler lead.

Butler added its final run in the sixth after a Coffeyville error placed Bryce Zimmerer at third base with no outs. Zimmerer led off the inning with a walk, then moved to third when Syring hit a ground ball to third base. A low throw by Ravens third baseman Brett Kennett got away, allowing Syring to be safe at first.

Werries followed with a sacrifice bunt to the right side of the mound, which scored Zimmerer to put Butler up 4-0.

Grizzly starter Nate Adler (1-0) retired the first 10 batters he faced before allowing a one-out single to Jackson Wilcox in the top of the fourth inning. Coffeyville ended up loading the bases after a walk and a hit by pitch, but Adler avoided further damage by striking out the last two hitters.

Zach Chiolis came on in the fifth and struck out four while allowing only one hit through two innings of work, then Braden Meek tossed a perfect 1-2-3 inning and ended the game with two strikeouts.

All combined, the Grizzly trio of arms allowed two hits, two walks and struck out 10 Coffeyville batters. Butler's offense finished with four runs on just four hits, but drew six walks and swiped four bases.