Butler needed just one hit and Pat McCarthy was more than happy to provide it.

The third baseman stepped to the plate with the BlueSox and Slippery Rock tied at 3 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and sent a fastball into center field, scoring Ryan Fitzgerald to hand the hosts a 4-3 Prospect League baseball win at Pullman Park.

Slippery Rock centerfielder Storm Wilson tried to make a play on the ball, racing to his left and diving in an attempt to send the game into extra innings. But the ball skipped in front of his glove as Fitzgerald, who began the play at second base, crossed home plate.

“It’s a great feeling,” said McCarthy of his walk-off single. “Not everybody gets a chance to do that.

“It was a 1-2 pitch that I hit,” he added. “I was just trying to stay back.”

McCarthy went 2-for-4 in the game while batting fourth in Butler’s order.

“He’s definitely had an impact on our lineup,” said Butler manager Anthony Rebyanski. “We can put him in any spot in the order and he’ll be effective. Plus, he does a good job of hitting the ball where it is pitched.”

“This was a tough one to lose,” said Slippery Rock manager Brett Neffendorf. “It was a good piece of hitting on his (McCarthy’s) part.”

Fitzgerald set the table for McCarthy with a one-out single against Sliders’ reliever and eventual losing pitcher Chris Tuma. Matt Peters’ groundout allowed Fitzgerald to move to second base.

Butler’s Tyler Ferguson got the win after pitching 1 2/3 innings of relief. He entered the game with one out in the top of the eighth inning and Slippery Rock holding a 2-1 lead. Ferguson gave up an infield single to Connor McCallum that plated Cooper Mickelson, a run charged to Tyler Swarmer, who began the inning on the mound but retired just one of the four batters he faced.

Trailing 3-1 in its half of the eighth, Butler went to work on getting even.

Slippery Rock had replaced starter David Wilson — who had allowed just one earned run in seven innings — with reliever Kevin Becker-Menditto. With Butler’s Taylor Schmidt at first base after a fielder’s choice, Alex Jurich kept the inning alive with a two-out single. Josh Forbes then laced a two-run double just inside the first-base bag that tied the game.

Becker-Menditto got out of the inning without further damage, but the BlueSox had new life.

“They (Sliders) go up by two runs late and at that point, it’s crunch time,” said Rebyanski. “Coming right back with two runs of our own, that was a huge momentum shift.”

Over-shadowed by the game’s ending was the performance of both starting pitchers. Wilson scattered eight hits while striking out four and walking one.

“David did a good job of getting ahead of hitters tonight,” said Neffendorf. “He did a tremendous job.”

Butler’s Adam Aldred did not surrender a hit until Gentry Kinsella’s single in the top of the fifth and ended his night with one run allowed on three hits in seven innings. He walked four and struck out four.

“Adam battles,” Rebyanski said. “I expect that out of him every time he takes the mound.”

Slippery Rock 000 001 020 — 3 7 2

Butler 001 000 021 — 4 11 0

W: Tyler Ferguson 1 2/3 IP (2K, 1BB). L: Chris Tuma 2/3 IP (0K, 0BB).

Slippery Rock (16-21): Storm Wilson 1B 2B 2R, Cooper Mickelson 1B R RBI, Matt Calhoun 2-1B RBI, Connor McCallum 1B RBI, Gentry Kinsella 1B

Butler (20-17): Dylan Wolsonovich 1B, Ryan Fitzgerald 2-1B 2B 2R, Matt Peters 1B, Pat McCarthy 2-1B RBI, Tyler Detmer 1B, Taylor Schmidt R, Alex Jurich 2-1B R, Josh Forbes 2B 2RBI

Today: Slippery Rock at Butler