What a difference two weeks can make.

About 14 days ago, the Butler BlueSox fell to 3-6 and their second-half hopes seemed dim.

Fast forward to Friday when the BlueSox tallied two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning en route to a 3-1 Prospect league victory over the DeKalb County Liners at Pullman Park.

The win was Butler’s eighth in the past 11 contests to improve to 11-9, just one game behind the Slippery Rock Sliders in the Eastern Division’s second-half race.

The Sliders won 4-3 against Danville Friday to stay atop the standings.

“Everyone’s ecstatic about what’s going on,” said Butler manager Anthony Rebyanski. “We’re in the hunt. We have to take care of our business and not worry about Chillicothe, Slippery Rock, Lorain and teams in our division.

“These guys get here early, work hard, have a great round of batting practice. They’re in the right frame of mind, getting everything out of every pitch and at-bat,” Rebyanski added.

In the eighth inning, Colin Harrington opened with a triple and scored on Matt Berezo’s RBI single for Butler.

After Berezo stole second, Shayne Houck — whose home run in the bottom of the sixth inning had tied the game — was hit by a pitch, which chased Liners’ starter Colin Taylor from the game.

Jason Radwan advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt off Silas Dill, who then intentionally walked Stephen Vranka to load the bases.

Chris Rasky then drew an RBI walk to make it a two-run game.

Dill, however, struck out Ryan Siegel and Jon Danielczyk to end the frame.

James Connelly got the win in relief, pitching a scoreless eighth inning and Brian Thompson retired the side in order in the ninth inning to earn the save.

Newcomer Tim Connelly started the game and allowed just one run and five hits over six innings. Wes Rich also pitched a scoreless inning of relief in the seventh for the BlueSox.

“These guys were outstanding,” said Rebyanski. “They faced the best hitter in the league in (Trenton) Moses.

“Tim started and if a lefty throws strikes, he wins. They don’t have to throw 100 miles per hour. Lefties just know how to win.

“He did what we expected,” Rebyanski added.

It was DeKalb that broke through first when Moses had a one-out double in the sixth inning, moved to third on a fielder’s choice, then scored when Pat Dockendorf singled.

That didn’t last long as Houck belted his ninth home run of the season over the left-field wall in the bottom of the sixth inning.

“It’s been kind of the same thing, one swing of the bat can turn the game around,” said Rebyanski. “He has the same approach with every at-bat. That’s why he’s successful as a hitter.”

DeKalb County 000 001 000 — 1 6 0Butler 000 001 02x — 3 6 0W: James Connelly 1 IP (1K, 0BB).

L: Colin Taylor 7+ IP (2K, 3BB).

DeKalb County (9-12): Alex Beckmann 2-1B; Trenton Moses 2-2B; Pat Dockendorf 1B, RBI; Andy Lennington 2B

Butler (11-9): Colin Harrington 1B, 3B; Matt Berezo 1B, RBI; Shayne Houck HR; Jason Radwan 1B; Chris Rasky RBI; Jon Danielczyk 1B

Saturday: DeKalb County at Butler, 6:35 p.m.