After letting a golden opportunity slip from its grasp, the Butler baseball team still had three innings to get its offense on track.

But Bethel Park reliever Corey Augenstein was standing in the way.

The sophomore left-hander held the Golden Tornado scoreless over the final three frames, striking out seven and walking none, as the Black Hawks left Pullman Park with an 8-3 victory Friday afternoon.

Butler's Ryan Vero accounted for the only two blemishes on Augenstein's outing, a single in the fifth and a two-out triple in the seventh. The latter struck out the side in the seventh to end the game.

“Even though he is a sophomore, he doesn't get nervous out there,” said Bethel Park coach Tony Fischer. “He has great command and mixes speeds well. He's really pushing some of the older pitchers on our staff and we expect him to make some starts for us.”

Before the Tornado encountered Augenstein, they were on the verge of a breakout inning against Black Hawk starter Logan Corrigan.

The southpaw's throwing error in the top of the fourth inning allowed Logan Maxwell to score, cutting Bethel's lead to 4-3.

A walk to Kyle Campbell loaded the bases with just one out. Corrigan then struck out Jake Stoner before his battery mate, catcher Chad Brown, shut the door on Butler's chance.

Following a pitch with Vero at the plate, Brown fired the ball to first baseman Dave Lemley, who tagged Campbell after he ventured too far off the bag.

“We definitely did not make the most of our opportunities,” said Butler coach Todd Erdos. “We had (Corrigan) on the ropes. In that situation, with the bases loaded, there was no place for Kyle to go. But it's a learning process because a lot of our players have little or no varsity experience.”

Bethel Park then went to work on adding insurance in the top of the fifth.

Against Butler starter and eventual losing pitcher Adam Schaffner, the Black Hawks received a leadoff triple from Corrigan and an RBI double off the bat of Ryan Dodson.

Schaffner pitched five innings, allowing five runs on eight hits.

“He didn't have his best stuff today, but he battled and gave us a chance to win,” Erdos said.

Bethel (3-0) added two runs in the sixth frame off reliever T.J. Rice and one tally against Mark Gross in the seventh.

“Momentum is so big in baseball and Butler had it there (in the fourth inning),” said Fischer. “We were fortunate to get out of that without giving up the lead and then responded with some runs of our own.”

The Tornado (1-2) fell behind 3-0 in the second inning, but Campbell's double in the bottom of the frame scored Ryan McCrea and Nick Patten.

Corrigan helped his own cause with a solo home run in the top of the third.

Bethel Park 031 012 1 — 8 11 1

Butler 020 100 0 — 3 6 0

W: Logan Corrigan 4 IP (3K, 4BB). L: Adam Schaffner 5 IP (1K, 1BB). S: Corey Augenstein 3 IP (7K, 0BB).

Bethel Park (3-0): Corey Lazor 1B 3B R RBI, Jake McCall 1B RBI, Logan Corrigan 3B HR, Ryan Dodson 2B RBI, Dave Lemley 2-1B R, Dakota Forsyth R, Ryan Kogler 1B RBI, Harry Siwik 1B R 2RBI, Chad Brown 2B RBI, Mitch Nordstrom 2R, Corey Augenstein R

Butler (1-2): Ryan Vero 1B 3B, Cory Wheeler 1B, Logan Maxwell 1B R, Ryan McCrea R, Nick Patten 1B R, Kyle Campbell 2B 2RBI

Wednesday: McDowell at Butler