Butler hit enough balls hard enough to win Wednesday afternoon.

Mt. Lebanon’s gloves just got in the way.

The Blue Devils turned in some key defensive plays and took advantage of some walks offensively to defeat the Golden Tornado, 4-1, in baseball action at Kelly Automotive Park.

“We made some solid contact. We just didn’t hit the ball in the right spots ... or get the hits at the right times,” Butler coach Todd Erdos said.

The Tornado (1-1) were robbed of a potential big inning right off the bat. Dallas Hays singled sharply to left to begin the bottom of the first and Connor Ollio sent a liner toward the right-center field gap.

Center fielder Nate Bayer made a diving catch of Ollio’s ball. Hays wound up stealing second and scoring on a Cade Negley single, but Butler was denied much more.

“Big play early,” Mt. Lebanon coach Pat McClosky said. “We made a bunch of them. Our third baseman (Nick Shaub) made a few diving stops of his own.

“We talked to the kids about showing grit in this game. That’s what it was going to take to win. Butler has a very good team.”

Butler loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth, but failed to add to its 1-0 lead. After Mt. Lebanon knotted the game in the fifth with an Eric Kraus RBI double, the Tornado had a golden opportunity to reclaim the lead in the bottom of the inning.

Ollio and Negley singled with one out and both moved up a base on a passed ball. But No.s 4 and 5 hitters Jacob Keene and Jefferson Ford struck out to end the threat.

“Mark (starting pitcher Linkowski) showed me something there,” McClosky said. “He’s our No. 3 pitcher and got stronger as the game went on.

“We’re trying to build a rotation and he’ll be a big part of it.”

Ollio pitched the first five innings for Butler, throwing 76 pitches and allowing a run. He allowed four walks, however. Butler walked seven on the night with three of them scoring.

“Walks kill you,” Erdos said. “That’s an old saying in baseball for a reason.”

Brandon Fleeger walked the first two Blue Devil batters to begin the sixth. Nick Callender bunted the runners up and reached first himself on an error to load the bases.

David Abbondanza delivered a sacrifice fly for what proved to be the winning RBI. A second run scored on the play when a throw to third base caromed into the stands. Andrew Smith’s run-scoring infield single upped the count to 4-1.

Linkowski was pulled following a Dallas Hay triple with one out in the seventh. Tyler Romanias came on to get the final two outs and the save.

“That was Tyler’s first varsity action on the mound,” McClosky said. “He needs to experience pressure situations. That’s why we put him in there.

“If we lose non-section games, my athletic director isn’t going to fire me. We’re prepping our team to win section games. I’m glad we’re playing the northern section right now. These teams play quality baseball.”

Mt. Lebanon began the season with final-inning losses to Pine-Richland and North Allegheny before defeating Butler.

Erdos was satisfied with Ollio’s 2017 mound debut.

“He wasn’t as sharp as he’s gonna be, but he’s coming off a long basketball season,” Erdos said. “Connor’s breaking stuff was sharp early, then it went away.

“We planned for his pitch count to get into the 70s, then we were getting him out of there regardless of the situation. We’re going to ease our pitchers in.”

Butler catcher Justin Stewart pulled off a unique feat Wednesday when he threw out three successive runners trying to steal second in the fourth inning.

“I’ve been around baseball a long time and I’ve never seen that done at any level,” Erdos, a former major league pitcher, said.

Mt. Lebanon 000 013 0 — 4 5 1

Butler 100 000 0 — 1 7 2

W: Mark Linkowski 6.1IP (6K, 2BB). L: Brandon Fleeger 2IP (2K, 2BB).

Mt. Lebanon (1-2): Ethan Cuccarese 1B,. David Abbondanza 1B RBI, Andrew Smith 1B RBI, Eric Kraus 2B 1B RBI

Butler (1-1): Dallas Hays 1B 3B, Connor Ollio 2-1B, Cade Negley 2-1B RBI, Jefferson Ford 1B,

Friday: New Castle vs. Butler, 7 p.m., Kelly Automotive Park