At this point of the Prospect League baseball season, teams are scrambling to find pitching.

Some pitchers have already been shut down for fear of being over-worked. Others are out of the mix due to injury.

That's why Anthony Rini's start Sunday for the Butler BlueSox was so important.

Rini turned in the longest start of any BlueSox pitcher this season — 7 2/3 innings — in Butler's 3-2 victory over West Virginia at Kelly Automotive Park.

Entering the contest, Rini had appeared in 10 games for Butler, with only two of them coming in a starting role. His previous outing yielded 5 2/3 innings as a starter in a 6-3 win over West Virginia July 15.

“That start gave me the confidence that he had the stuff to pitch late into a game,” said Butler manager Cody Herald. “He throws a lot of strikes and produces a lot of groundballs. That's what you want.”

Rini did not dominate the Miners, who totaled 11 hits off of him. But they found it difficult scoring runs.

Kendrick Epling's double plated Maddux Houghton with West Virginia's first run in the fourth inning, cutting Butler's lead to 2-1.

With two outs in the eighth frame, Houghton singled, forcing Rini from the game due to the league's pitch-count rule.

Nick Spiliotis took the mound and, following Houghton's stolen base, allowed an RBI-single to Dalton Cornett. That closed the book on Rini, who allowed the two runs while striking out two and walking none on 88 pitches.

Spiliotis secured a save by getting the last out of the eighth and stranding a runner at second base in the ninth.

“I didn't have my best stuff today,” admitted Rini. “I relied a lot on my slider and went to my change-up a few times to keep the hitters off-balance. I had confidence in the defense behind me and in our bullpen to pick me up.”

“This start was huge for us,” said Herald. “We needed it really bad. Anthony's been doing a little bit of everything for us and it's helped us out tremendously.”

Butler managed just four hits in the game, but made the most of them.

The Sox (20-29) broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning. Chris Law's single scored Ray Scala and Dominick Bucko's fielder's choice plated another run.

Butler extended its lead to 3-1 in the fourth. Evan Webb hit a leadoff double off Miners' starter Austin Henrich. The former scored on Grant Hannant's single with one out.

West Virginia relievers Josh Zeboskey and Dylan Shockley shut out the Sox over the last four innings.

The loss dims West Virginia's playoff hopes. The Miners (22-25) are 4½ games out of a playoff spot in the East Division with 13 games left to play.

Butler's win Sunday kept the Sox from losing three straight. They fell, 10-5, at Chillicothe Saturday night.

Butler will host West Virginia again Tuesday at 7:05.

West Virginia 000 100 010 — 2 13 0

Butler 002 100 00x — 3 4 0

W: Anthony Rini 7.2 IP (2K, 0BB). L: Austin Henrich 5 IP (5K, 2BB). S: Nick Spiliotis 1.1 IP (2K, 0BB).

West Virginia (22-25): Mason Washington 2-1B 2B, Colby Johnson 3-1B, Maddux Houghton 2-1B 2B 2R, Kendrick Epling 1B 2B RBI

Butler (20-29): Chris Law 1B R RBI, Dominick Bucko RBI, Kristian Webb 2B, Evan Webb 2B R, Grant Hannant 1B RBI, Ray Scala R

Monday: West Virginia at Butler