SLIPPERY ROCK — The slate is clean, but the play still isn't.

Butler manager Jason Wuerfel held a lengthy meeting with his BlueSox in front of the visiting dugout after a 7-5 loss to Slippery Rock in Prospect League baseball at Jack Critchfield Park Thursday night.

The first half of the season is over. The standings were reset to 0-0 for all teams to start the second half.

But the same problems continue to plague the BlueSox — and Wuerfel has seen enough.

"It comes down to poor execution," Wuerfel said. "The players that we have who are all very good prospects are not playing up to their potential."

Meanwhile, few teams were as pleased about the reboot as Slippery Rock, which struggled to the league's worst record in the first half at 9-18.

The second-half Sliders looked nothing like the first-half ones.

Slippery Rock pounded out 11 hits, was disciplined at the plate and took advantage of nearly every scoring opportunity.

The Sliders even rallied after coughing up an early 3-0 lead by scoring two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and single in the seven and eighth.

Sliders reliever Kevin Kumazec came in to get the final out after Butler loaded the bases in the top of the ninth.

"That was the best thing for us," said Slippery Rock manager Andy Chalot. "We basically got to wipe the slate clean and have something to play for."

Slippery Rock might have found itself an electrifying center fielder in the strangest of places.

Eric Miranda made his debut for the Sliders in the leadoff spot, going 1-for-3 with two stolen bases.

His defense was more valuable, however, as he took away at least three hits by chasing down fly balls in the gap and at the fence.

Miranda played with Slippery Rock assistant coach John Rodriguez at Long Beach (Calif.) Community College five years ago.

But Miranda took three years off from baseball and was discovered last year playing a pickup sandlot game by an umpire who worked some El Camino College games in Compton, Calif.

Miranda decided to re-enroll in school and played well.

Slippery Rock scooped him up off a rec league.

"He flew in yesterday," Chalot said. "We've been pretty thin in the outfield."

Two of the five outfielders on the Slippery Rock roster, Derek Carr and Sam Sivilotti, have been struggling with injuries.

Butler is just struggling.

For Wuerfel, it's the little things — the things that don't show up in the box score — that have dogged his team this season.

Two leadoff walks in the seventh and eighth innings came around to score against the BlueSox. The Sliders' Jeremy Banks hit a long home run on an 0-2 hanging curveball over the center of the plate.

Slippery Rock also had three triples, prompted mostly by bad routes to the ball by Butler outfielders.

"I'm tired of these guys selling themselves short, losing games they should win," Wuerfel said. "(I told them) 'We lost because of poor execution. You're better players than this. And if you are not upset about this outcome tonight, then you are not a competitor and you need to figure out why you don't feel that way and come back ready to compete tomorrow.'"

Butler 000 023 000 — 5 14 1Slippery Rock 210 002 11x — 7 11 0W: Sean Mahley 3 IP (1 K, 1 BB).

L: Ryan Thompson 1 IP (0 K, 1 BB).

Butler (13-15, 0-1): Austin Wulf 3-1B, Kevan Smith 2-1B, Adam Jury 2B, Logan Uxa 2-1B 2-RBI, Tyler Sciacca 3-1B RBI

Slippery Rock (10-18, 1-0): Jeremy Banks HR RBI, Sam Sivilotti 3B RBI, Matt Fenster 3B RBI, Matt Baer 3B 2-1B RBI, A.J. Miller 2-1B 2-RBI