Butler pitchers were getting strikeouts when they needed them.

Mt. Lebanon baseball coach Pat McCloskey was getting tired of seeing it.

“We were leaving too many guys at third base,” he said. “We resorted to a new plan.

“Hitting isn't always going to be there. Bunting and running can be.”

It was for the Blue Devils (2-2) Wednesday at Michelle Krill Field at Historic Pullman Park as Mt. Lebanon laid down four consecutive bunts in the sixth inning — two of them squeeze bunt singles — in rallying for a 5-3 victory over Butler.

“Those bunts hurt us, especially when we couldn't get outs on a couple of them,” Butler coach Cody Herald said.

The Golden Tornado (1-1) took a 3-2 lead into the sixth inning. Colby Anderson had delivered a two-out RBI single to right to snap a 2-2 deadlock in the fourth.

Butler starting pitcher Simon Brown worked the first three innings and had a pair of run-scoring singles of his own. Austin Rodgers took the mound for the Tornado in the fourth.

Mt. Lebanon had runners on second and third with no one out in the fourth, but Rodgers struck out two and got Justin Duda to fly out to right to end the threat.

The Blue Devils had runners at first and second and one out when Sam Rolfsen grounded to third baseman J,.R. Herold, who stepped on the bag and fired to first for an inning-ending double play.

“We had numerous chances and just weren't cashing in,” McCloskey said.

Rodgers started the sixth by hitting Sam Lasota on an 0-2 pitch. Jeffrey Dengler then beat out a bunt single to the mound and Cam Powers bunted the runners up.

Dante Borris plated the tying run with a squeeze-bunt single to the shortstop. Duda got the eventual winning run across the plate with a squeeze-bunt single to third.

“This game was a learning experience for us,” Herald said. “We didn't play badly. They (Blue Devils) just executed.”

Powers had a two-out RBI single in the seventh to produce an insurance run for the Blue Devils.

“When you play on turf, you can get a lot of bunts down,” McCloskey said. “A couple of those bunts, if we're on natural grass or dirt, the ball would have probably rolled foul. On turf, it's gonna stay.”

Four Mt. Lebanon pitchers limited Butler to four hits. The Tornado did not have a hit after the fourth inning, but stranded seven on base in the game. Mt. Lebanon left 11 runners on.

“We had chances to score more runs today and didn't sdo it,” Herald said. “Austin came in and threw strikes.

“The intent was certainly there. This was a tough loss for him.”

Rodgers threw 43 of his 58 pitches for strikes.

Mt. Lebanon used four pitchers in the game, pulling catcher Jack Smith out from behind the plate to record the final four outs.

“We were out of pitching after using a few to beat North Allegheny in our last game,” McCloskey said. “Jack was it. As long as this game was going to go, he was going to finish it.”

Mt. Lebanon 110 002 1 — 5 12 0

Butler 101 100 0 — 3 4 0

W: Clay Petulla 1.2IP (0K, 0BB). L: Austin Rodgers 4IP (2K, 1BB).

Mt. Lebanon (2-2): Dante Borris 2-1B RBI, Justin Duda 1B 2-RBI, Eddie Kubit 2-1B RBI, Jack Smith 2-1B, Sam Lasota 1B 2-R, Jeffrey Dengler 3-1B, Cam Powers 1B RBI

Butler (1-1): Colby Anderson 1B RBI, Simon Brown 2-1B 2-RBI, Austin Rodgers 2B

Friday: Butler at Armstrong