Story by Wyatt Ebersole
The Butler pitching staff held the Trojan bats in check in both games Saturday afternoon as the Grizzlies pulled off the twinbill sweep of Colby, winning 6-3 in game one and 9-4 in game two. With the sweep, the Grizzlies completed the regular season sweep of the Trojans, having won the first two games of the series on Thursday in Colby. The victories improve the Grizzlies to 28-18 overall and 15-9 in conference play. For Colby, they slip to 11-33 overall and 4-20 in conference play.
Game One
A masterful, complete game pitching performance from starter William Humphrey and consistent offense from the Grizzly bats led the Butler Baseball team to a 6-3 win in game one. The Grizzly offense started hot, as Justin Hudson crushed a ball over the fence in centerfield to give the Grizzlies an early 2-0 lead. Catcher Brock Lummus followed Hudson's two-run homer with a blast of his own, this one an opposite field shot to right field to make it 3-0 Grizzlies early. After both sides went scoreless in the second inning, Brock Kuehler added to the Grizzlies lead with an RBI single to score Alan Benhardt from second and make it 4-0 Grizzlies. The Trojans found a response in the top of the fourth, hitting a three-run home run to cut the Grizzly lead down to just one run at 4-3. The Grizzly offense couldn't find any offense in their half of the fourth, but they managed to find two runs in the fifth, those coming on another RBI single by Kuehler and a sacrifice groundout from Cole Murrell that made it 6-3 Grizzlies through five innings. The Trojans threatened, but starting pitcher William Humphrey kept Colby off the board the rest of the way as he induced a routine 6-4-3 double play to close out game one.
Kuehler highlighted the Grizzlies offense in game one, going 2-3 with two RBIs.
Humphrey had his best outing on the mound of the year, throwing a complete game, allowing just the three runs on four hits and striking out six Trojan batters.
Game Two
In game two, it was the Trojans who struck first, hitting a two-run home run in the top of the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. In the bottom half, Kuehler came up at big at the plate once again, notching his third RBI of the day with another single to cut the deficit in half. Both sides were held scoreless in the second inning, but Garrett Fager opened the bottom of the third inning with a solo home run, his third solo shot of the series with Colby, this one tying the game up 2-2 through three innings. The Grizzlies kept the offense going in the fourth, scoring two runs to jump in front 4-2 through four innings. Markus Hamre hit a sacrifice fly to left to bring Kuehler home and Anibal Rivera hit an RBI single to left to score Brock Toothaker. Colby found a quick answer in the fifth, hitting another two-run home run to tie the game up at four runs a piece. Butler regained the lead for good in the sixth inning thanks to an RBI single from Rivera. To follow that, Fager hammered another baseball, his fourth home run of the series, this one to left field to add two more runs to Grizzly ledger, tripling the Grizzly lead to three runs and making it a 7-4 advantage for Butler through the sixth inning. Murrell put the icing on the cake in the seventh inning with a big two-RBI double to right field to extend the Butler lead out to 9-4. Relievers Zach Murkin and Zach Brink held the Trojans scoreless from the sixth inning on and the Grizzlies came away with a 9-4 win in game two to complete the four game series sweep of Colby.
Cole Murrell had the best Grizzly bat in game two, hitting 2-3 with two RBIs, highlighted by a leadoff triple in the sixth inning.
Zach Murkin collected the win in game two out of the bullpen, the first pitching decision he has received in his college career. He went one and two thirds innings, allowing no runs on just two hits while striking out four.
The Grizzlies resume action with a non-conference game against Coffeyville on Tuesday at 2PM and continue conference play on Thursday with a doubleheader at home against Dodge City at 1 and 3PM.
