Trailing 8-2 entering the bottom of the third inning Wednesday night, Butler BlueSox manager Anthony Rebyanski reminded his team that there was a lot of baseball yet to be played.

His players responded by dominating the final six innings.

The BlueSox scored nine runs between the third and fifth frames — including a six-run fourth inning — to defeat Richmond (Ind.) 11-10 in Prospect League action at Pullman Park.

With Slippery Rock’s 7-5 win over Lorain County, the BlueSox remain two games back of the Sliders for the East Division lead. Both teams have three games remaining.

The Sox and RiverRats headed for cover from a strong downpour in the bottom of the fourth frame. Following a 45-minute rain delay, the BlueSox tallied four straight hits, which began with a run-scoring infield single off the bat of Matt Berezo to cut Butler’s deficit to 8-4.

Shayne Houck, Jason Radwan and Stephen Vranka followed with three doubles in a row, driving in a combined four runs to tie the game. Later in the inning, Taylor Juran’s RBI base hit plated Vranka for a 9-8 edge.

“Hitting is very contagious,” Rebyanski said. “It’s all momentum. Attitude is a big part of it.”

Butler’s first nine runs came off of Richmond starting pitcher Drew Mitrisin, who struck out five, walked four and allowed 11 hits in four innings of work. He pitched on both sides of the rain delay.

“He said he felt good (after the delay) and I trust guys when they tell me that,” said RiverRats manager Tyler Lairson. “Our bullpen is pretty thin. I thought Drew made some good pitches tonight, but Butler hit ’em well.”

The BlueSox (12-12) added two more runs in the fifth on Houck’s sacrifice fly and Radwan’s run-scoring base hit.

Leading 11-10 with three innings left to play, the BlueSox turned to right-handed reliever Julian Diaz with one on and no outs in the seventh.

He was Butler’s fourth pitcher of the night, following Kevin MacLachlan (2X\c innings), James Connelly (2) and Jon Danielczyk (1⅓).

In a game dominated by offense up to that point, Diaz pitched three scoreless innings, leaving the bases loaded in the seventh and stranding another baserunner at second in the eighth.

“He’s been doing it all year for us,” Rebyanski said of Diaz, whose ERA dipped to 1.80 in 21 appearances. “He is tough to hit because of his sidearm motion. He gets a lot of groundballs.”

Danielczyk picked up his first win on the mound this season after entering the contest with two outs in the fifth inning.

MacLachlan gave up eight runs on nine hits in the start.

“He left a lot of balls up in the zone,” Rebyanski said. “But he’s a resilient guy and he’ll bounce back.”

Berezo ended the night with four runs scored and Radwan managed four runs batted in for the BlueSox.

T.J. Weir had a pair of doubles for Richmond (9-16), scoring twice and driving in four.

The RiverRats have lost their last two games despite scoring 18 runs in that span. The team fell to Danville 18-8 on Tuesday.

Richmond 035 011 000 — 10 16 2Butler 201 620 00x — 11 15 0W: Jon Danielczyk 1⅓ IP (0K, 0BB).

L: Drew Mitrisin 4 IP (5K, 4BB).

SV: Julian Diaz 3 IP (2K, 2BB).

Richmond (9-16): Rob McPike 1B RBI, Jake Hansen 1B RBI, Nolan Earley 1B 2B R, Ryan Skellie 1B 2B 2R RBI, Montana Timmons 3-1B 2R, Jordan Grilliot 1B 2R 2RBI, T.J. Weir 2-2B 2R 4RBI, Kyle Bischoff 2-1B R, Josh Denny 2-1B RBI

Butler (12-12): Colin Harrington 2-1B R, Matt Berezo 2-1B 2B 4R RBI, Shayne Houck 1B 2B 2R 2RBI, Jason Radwan 2-1B 2B R 4RBI, Stephen Vranka 2-1B 2B R 2RBI, Chris Rasky RBI, Taylor Juran 2-1B RBI, Ryan Siegel R, John Crummy R

Today: Butler at Lorain County