It was quite a sendoff for Cole Taylor.

The Butler left-hander carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and pitched 7Z\c scoreless innings to help the BlueSox rout Chillicothe (Ohio) 12-1 in front of a capacity crowd at Pullman Park Friday night.

Taylor trotted out to the mound to start the eighth inning, got the Paints' Cody Elliott to fly out to center, then was removed from the game and greeted with cheers from the crowd and high-fives from his teammates.

"I told (Butler manager Jason Wuerfel), 'Send me out for one batter,'" Taylor said. "'I want to walk off and let the fans be behind me. I wanted to give them a good show in my last start here.'"

Taylor did. He struck out eight and didn't allow a hit until Jeff Holm lined a sharp single through the infield to start the sixth inning.

The University of Pittsburgh pitcher gave up another hit in the inning to Greg Van Horn, but Taylor got a strikeout and groundout to end the inning.

Taylor cruised through the sixth inning, but his pitch count was high enough to give Wuerfel reservations about using him to start the seventh.

But Taylor's plea for one more batter was too much to deny.

"He's pitched so well for us this summer," Wuerfel said. "It was a really nice moment to give him a chance to walk off the field in front of this huge crowd and be acknowledged."

Taylor started the season in the bullpen, but injuries and ineffectiveness thrust Taylor into the rotation, where he's been quite effective.

Taylor has pitched at least six innings in five of his six starts. Run support has been a problem, as he picked up his first win Friday to go with one loss and four no-decisions.

Getting runs was no problem Friday.

Butler received a two-run single from Seneca Valley graduate and Taylor's teammate at Pitt, Kevan Smith, in the fourth inning to give the BlueSox a 3-0 lead.

Butler tacked on three more runs in the fifth, keyed by a two-run double off the bat of Tyler Sciacca, and then scored four runs in the sixth, the final two runs coming home on a bloop double by Cameron Squires.

Sciacca finished with three RBI and three runs scored while Squires drove home three runs in the game.

Notes: The announced attendance was 1,401, the largest crowd of the season. ... Holm had two hits for Chillicothe, but didn't add to his league-leading total of nine home runs and 52 RBI.

Chillicothe 000 000 101 — 1 5 1Butler 100 234 02x — 12 16 0W: Cole Taylor 7Z\c IP (8K, 5BB).

L: Matt Barnes 32/3 IP (2K, 5BB).

Chillicothe (34-14, 14-6): Greg Van Horn 2B RBI, Jeff Holm 2-1B

Butler (19-27, 6-13): Colby Roberts 3-1B, Kevan Smith 2B 2-RBI, Adam Jury 2B 2-RBI, Max Vogel 3-1B, Tyler Sciacca 2B 1B 3-RBI 3-R, Logan Uxa 3-1B 2-RBI, Cameron Squires 2B 1B 3-RBI