Strike three.

Butler baseball coach Cody Herald can live with it — if it comes a certain way.

He didn't like the way it came Wednesday at Michelle Krill Field at Historic Pullman Park as Golden Tornado hitters took called third strikes eight times in a 4-3 loss to Shaler.

Three of those called third strikes ended the fifth, sixth and seventh innings for Butler (1-4), all with runners in scoring position.

“Sometimes you're going to have strikeouts, but you have to go down fighting,” Herald said. “We were doing too much guessing at the plate. You can't do that.

“See fastball and react. That's how you have to hit.”

Shaler (4-2) pushed across the winning run in the top of the sixth. Colin Harger reached on an infield error and stole second base. He moved to third on an errant throw in the Butler infield.

With one out, No. 8 hitter Evan Walsh laid down a squeeze bunt to snap a 3-3 tie.

Butler missed an opportunity to take the lead in the fifth. Kyle Weitzel tripled to right-center with one out — his second of three hits on the day — but was left there as Colby Anderson grounded to second against Shaler's drawn-in infield and J.R. Herold took a called third strike.

Luke Koegler singled with one out in the Tornado sixth, moved to second on an infield out and stole third. Josh Grigoletti took a called third strike to end that threat.

Shaler removed starting pitcher Nick Rispoli after six innings and 101 pitches. Rispoli struck out 10.

Zach Hernon took the mound in the seventh, allowed a single and stolen base to Weitzel with one out, but struck out Anderson and Nathan Stutz to end the game.

“Our closer tore his ACL and is out for the season,” Shaler coach Brian Junker said. “We brought Zach in because he throws strikes.

“Nick was getting ahead of hitters and when you're ahead in the count with two strikes, you can be more aggressive and try hitting the outside corner or inside corner. Most high school umpires will give you that call.”

Grigoletti was a hard-luck loser for Butler, throwing 92 pitches in six innings. He struck out four, walked one and allowed three earned runs.

“Josh pitched really well,” Herald said. “We didn't turn a double play one inning when we should have, didn't adjust to the wind on a couple of fly balls ... We made some mistakes behind him.”

The Tornado trailed 3-1 before knotting the game with a pair of runs in the fourth. Stutz tripled to the left-center gap, Herold walked and stole second. Simon Brown hit a sacrifice fly and David Leslie's RBI triple to right tied the game.

Three of Butler's six hits in the game were triples.

The Tornado have dropped four straight games, but have been in every one.

“These guys have a lot of potential,” Herald said. “They just have to learn to believe in it.

“We're using these non-section games as learning experiences. We've got things to work on and we'll get better. I'd rather get hot in section play than get hot now.”

Butler does not open section play until Monday against Allderdice.

Shaler 200 101 0 — 4 6 1

Butler 100 200 0 — 3 6 3

W: Nick Rispoli 6IP (10K, 3BB). L: Josh Grigoletti 6IP (4K, 1BB).

Shaler (4-2): Hunter Boyan 1B, Nick Rispoli 2-2B RBI, Colin Harger 1B RBI 2-R, Evan Walsh 2-1B RBI

Butler (1-4): Kyle Weitzel 2-1B 3B, Nathan Stutz 3B, J.R. Herold RBI, Simon Brown RBI, Logan Koegler 1B, David Leslie 3B RBI

Saturday: Butler at Hempfield