Butler pitchers Connor Ollio and Cade Negley will have a lot to say about how the Golden Tornado’s 2017 baseball season turns out.

Friday afternoon, they both played a key role in getting Butler off on the right foot.

The duo combined to allow just one unearned run on two hits over six innings as the Golden Tornado opened the regular season with an 8-3 victory against Woodland Hills at Kelly Automotive Park.

Negley, a Santa Clara University recruit, started the game and worked three innings before Ollio, who has verbally committed to attend the University of North Carolina, entered and pitched scoreless frames in the fourth through the sixth. The latter earned the victory after striking out seven and walking none.

Both players took the mound less than a week after their basketball season ended when Butler fell to Pine-Richland in last Saturday’s state quarterfinal playoff.

Over the past several weeks, Ollio and Negley got their workouts for baseball in before school, then focused on basketball in the evening.

“We knew Cade wasn’t going to throw long today and we planned on using both guys,” said Butler coach Todd Erdos. “Cade threw 52 pitches and Connor was between 42 and 44.”

Negley was charged with an unearned run in the first inning when, after two outs, Robbie Korff reached on a throwing error and later scored on Benny Dettore’s double.

Negley then worked out of a jam in the second. A pair of walks and a hit-batsman loaded the bases with two outs before a strikeout of Mike Whiteherse ended the threat.

“He threw the ball well,” Erdos said of Negley. “His location wasn’t as good as it’s going to get, but his arm was strong today.”

A perfect third inning ended Negley’s day on the mound after five strikeouts and two walks.

“In a scrimmage against Penn-Trafford (Tuesday), I felt really good throwing the ball,” he said. “I wanted to work on my pitches today and my fastball was a little off. I just need to work on my location and driving off the mound.”

Ollio inherited a 3-1 lead, thanks to Butler’s first inning against Woodland Hills freshman pitcher Cameron DePilma.

He was greeted with a double from Dallas Hays, who scored on Ollio’s base hit. DePilma then hit Negley with a pitch. Later in the frame, both Ollio and Negley scored on Nicolas Kibbie’s single.

DePilma worked scoreless second and third innings before a rough start to the fourth chased him from the mound. He struck out three and walked one.

“I’m really proud of him,” said Woodland Hills assistant coach Tony Napolitano. “He went up against a very good team today, gave up three runs in the first but then settled down.”

But as a parting gift, Butler tagged DePilma with three more runs in the fourth. Justin Stewart led off the frame with a triple and scored when Ryan Lynn singled to centerfield.

Hays tripled home Lynn, which spelled the end to DePilma’s outing. He was charged with one more run moments later when Hays raced home on a wild pitch.

The 6-1 lead was more than enough for Ollio, who allowed just two baserunners over his three innings, one of them coming on a third strike that bounced to the backstop.

“Connor looked really strong today,” Erdos said. “He continues to grow and mature and it shows.”

Butler plated two more insurance runs in the sixth against Wolverines’ reliever Chuck Hanchett. Sam Gross’ base hit brought home Jacob Slomers and Ollio.

Alec Bayer pitched the seventh inning for Butler and was able to work out of a jam.

An error, base hit and walk loaded the bases for Woodland Hills. Dettore singled in two runs before Jack Skowranski struck out with the bases full to end the game.

Dettore, a catcher, finished with three of Woodland Hills’ five hits.

“We returned just two seniors this season, Kaliel Wilson and Robbie Korff,” said Napolitano. “We have no set lineup and are just experimenting right now.”

Hays and Ollio, Butler’s No. 1 and 2 hitters, both tallied three hits. Hays’ day included a single, double and triple.

“Dallas was our leadoff hitter for a lot of last season,” Erdos said. “He has the tools for that spot in the order, for sure. He is more aggressive (at the plate) than most leadoff hitters, but that’s OK. He has game-awareness on the basepaths and can cause a lot of havoc out there.”

Friday’s victory is the beginning of what Ollio and his teammates hope is a special season for Butler.

The Golden Tornado missed the WPIAL playoffs a year ago.

“We have a lot of talent,” Ollio said. “If we bond as a team, we can make our dreams come true.”

Woodland Hills 100 000 2 — 3 5 1

Butler 300 302 x — 8 12 2

W: Connor Ollio 3 IP (7K, 0BB). L: Cameron DePilma 3+ IP (3K, 1BB).

Woodland Hills: Chuck Hanchett 1B R, Robbie Korff R, Benny Dettore 2-1B 2B 3RBI, Sheldon Johnson 1B, Maliq Cunningham R

Butler: Dallas Hays 1B 2B 3B 2R RBI, Connor Ollio 3-1B 2R RBI, Cade Negley R, Nicolas Kibbie 1B 2RBI, Alec Bayer 1B, Justin Stewart 3B R, Ryan Lynn 1B R RBI, Sam Gross 1B 2RBI, Jacob Slomers 1B R

Wednesday: Mt. Lebanon at Butler