BUTLER TWP— Butler hitters went the extra mile in their baseball season opener Wednesday at Highfield Park.

The Golden Tornado's first seven hits — five doubles and two triples — went for extra bases and accounted for six runs in a 7-3 victory over defending WPIALchampion Mt. Lebanon.

"Our first seven?For extra bases?Are you kidding?,"Butler coach Dave Florie said. "That may be more (extra-base hits) than we had all of last year."

Butler's final extra-base hit was a two-run double by Andy Onufrak in the fifth inning. That hit snapped a 3-3 tie and proved to be the game-winner.

The Tornado struck for four runs in their half of the fifth after Mt. Lebanon scored a pair to tie the game in the top of the inning.

"I told the kids between that inning that I was glad they came back on us,"Florie said. "I wanted to see how we would respond.

"Our first two hitters got on base and we went to work from there. It was nice to see."

Butler had taken a 3-0 lead in the second inning on a two-run triple to right field by Jordan Roycroft and a run-scoring double to left by Brian Warheit.

The Blue Devils (0-3) answered with a run off starting pitcher Warheit in the third and two against Dallas O'Donnell in the fifth. A balk plated the first Mt. Lebanon run of the fifth frame and a two-out RBIdouble by Zak Boss tied the game.

Center fielder Roycroft tried making a lunging catch of Boss' sinking liner, but the ball fell just out of his reach and rolled behind him.

"That (Mt. Lebanon) team can hit the ball and I thought our pitchers controlled them pretty well today,"Florie said.

Darren Blakley opened Butler's fifth with a double to center. Dustin Uhlman walked and Onufrak delivered his two-run double. Ryan Geibel laid down a sacrifice bunt that the pitcher bobbled for an error.

With runners at the corners, Mt. Lebanon catcher Pat Bone threw the ball away while trying to prevent a stolen base, enabling Onufrak to score. Butler scored a fourth run in the inning when second baseman Ryan Regelman dropped a pop fly.

"We made a number of physical and mental errors that inning,"Mt. Lebanon coach Pat McClosky said. "I'm disappointed with the way we played today.

"This was our third game and I expected a better performance from my team."

O'Donnell got the win in relief for Butler, striking out six over the final three innings. He fanned the Blue Devils' No. 3 and 4 hitters to end the game.

"Dallas throws that off-speed stuff, and when he gets it over the plate, he's tough to hit,"Florie said.

Mt. Lebanon graduated 13 seniors from last year's WPIALchampionship squad. The three starters back from last year are shortstop Jordan Steranka, center fielder Eric Isler and catcher Bone. Isler had two singles and an RBIin the game.

The Blue Devils' bottom four hitters in their lineup were a combined 0-for-12 with seven strikeouts.

"We haven't figured out the right combination with our lineup yet,"McClosky said. "We definitely need to put the ball into play better with two strikes on us."

By contrast. Butler batters struck out only twice all day.

"Given the fact this was our first game and we've only been able to get outside a handful of times, I'll take that any day,"Florie said.

Mt. Lebanon 001 020 0—3 6 3Butler 030 040 x—7 10 3WP: Dallas O'Donnell (3 IP) 6 strikeouts, 1 walk.

LP: Pete Slavonic (2 IP) 1 strikeout, 2 walks

Mt. Lebanon (0-3): Eric Isler 2-1BRBI, Pat Bone 1B, Steve Krayer 1B, Zak Boss 2B 1BRBI

Butler (1-0): Darren Blakley 2B 1B, Dustin Uhlman 1B, Andy Onufrak 2-2B2-RBI, Ryan Geibel 2B, James Masciarelli 2-R, Tim Geibel 1B, Jordan Roycroft 2-3B 2-RBI, Brian Warheit 2BRBI

Today: Blackhawk atButler, 4 p.m.