It was a frustrating weekend for the Butler BlueSox.

One night after stranding the bases loaded in the sixth inning of a 5-4 Prospect League baseball loss to Champion City, the Sox were again unable to get the big hit in a 3-2 defeat to West Virginia Sunday at Kelly Automotive Park.

The most glaring missed opportunity against the Miners came in the bottom of the fourth inning when Will Schneider doubled and Tyler Niemann singled to begin the inning.

With runners at first and third, Jamie Switalski popped out and Dalton Hoiles grounded into a 5-4-3 double play as West Virginia starting pitcher Clyde Yoder squeezed out of the jam.

“If we ground into a double play with nobody out, at least the runner scores from third,” lamented Butler manager Jason Radwan. “It's a different mind-set with runners in scoring position. Some guys take an easy swing, just trying to put the ball in play. Others change their swing and try to lift the ball. When we did lift it tonight, it wasn't far enough.”

One exception was Niemann's sacrifice fly that plated Danny Hrbek in the bottom of the sixth, cutting West Virginia's lead to 2-1. Later in the inning, Schneider stole third and scored on a throwing error to tie the game.

But that would be all the offense Butler could muster.

The Miners (6-3) moved ahead for good in the top of the seventh. Against Sox reliever Carter Krick, Taylor Hillson walked, stole second and scored on A.J. Kloehn's base hit.

Butler was primed to tie the game again in the bottom of the inning after Jake Kennedy singled and advanced to second base on a passed ball with no outs.

Jacob Belinda, who relieved Yoder at the start of the frame, sandwiched two strikeouts around a groundout to preserve his team's slim advantage.

“We still have four or five guys who haven't joined the team yet and we've had to do some unconventional things,” said West Virginia manager Tim Epling. “Belinda was supposed to throw a bullpen session today. We just moved his session into throwing in the game.”

Belinda (seventh), Cody Ballay (eighth) and Calvin Coker (ninth) worked three combined innings of scoreless relief.

The Miners gained an early 2-0 lead against Butler starter John Schreiber, who walked Nick Delgado and allowed a single to Ryan Perkins to start the game.

Delgado scored on a double steal while Perkins went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Paul Trick's sacrifice fly.

Schreiber would work five more innings, all of them scoreless. The southpaw's night ended with six strikeouts and one walk.

“This was his first start for us,” said Radwan. “He settled down and was very tough on their lefties. He's going to be one of our top starters.”

Jake Herzing (1/3 inning) and Switalski (1) finished the game on the mound for the BlueSox (5-5), who missed out on a chance to grab sole possession of first place in the East Division.

Despite an up-and-down start to the season, Radwan sees a lot of promise in this year's team.

“In the past, we've had teams that had really good hitters and pitching that was just decent or the other way around,” he said. “I believe this team has the potential to be good both ways.”

Schneider went 3-for-4 in Saturday's loss and duplicated that effort against the Miners, raising his batting average to .647.

West Virginia 200 000 100 — 3 6 1

Butler 000 002 000 — 2 9 1

W: Clyde Yoder 6 IP (2K, 1BB). L: Carter Krick 1.2 IP (0K, 1BB). S: Calvin Coker 1 IP (1K, 0BB).

West Virginia (6-3): Nick Delgado 1B R, Ryan Perkins 1B R, Paul Trick RBI, Taylor Hillson 2-1B R, A.J. Kloehn 1B 2B RBI

Butler (5-5): Garrett Vrbanic 1B, Danny Hrbek 1B R, Will Schneider 2-1B 2B R, Tyler Niemann 1B RBI, Jamie Switalski 1B, Dalton Hoiles 1B, Jake Kennedy 1B

Today: West Virginia at Butler