Iron Bucks fall in 10
The effort on the mound was exactly what the Butler Iron Bucks were hoping for through five innings.
Afterward? Not so much.
Starter Nick Guidas held the Pittsburgh Redbirds to one run on three hits in the first five frames. He was relieved by Zack Shook after allowing an unearned run in the top of the sixth, cutting the Bucks’ edge to 3-2.
From that point on, the Redbirds tallied six runs on eights hits, the last tally coming on Jake Wessel’s RBI-single with one out in the top of the 10th as the Bucks dropped an 8-7 decision Tuesday in North American Baseball Alliance action at Pullman Park.
“Nick was fantastic early on, was commanding three pitches on both sides of the plate,” Butler manager Ken Creehan said. “He was fabulous.”
Butler’s chance to tie the game in the bottom of the 10th took a major hit when Max Bernadowski hit a fly ball to the outfield, which was caught for the first out. Kenny Lavrich tagged from second and reached third safely, but the Redbirds appealed the play and it was ruled that Lavrich left early and became the second out. Duston Strom then singled, but was stranded.
Shook was the first of four relievers the Bucks sent to the mound. The last, Brian Pirone, shouldered the loss.
The highlight of Pittsburgh’s 12-hit onslaught came in the top of the seventh when the team managed four doubles from Wessel, Adam Och, Dylan Barnes and Mason Metz. When the dust settled, the Redbirds (4-0-2) held a 6-5 edge.
Butler (1-2) responded with three runs of its own in the bottom of the frame, with Lance Slater, Mason Fixx and Austyn Winkleblech each reaching on a base hit.
But other than that inning, the Bucks tallied just four hits the rest of the game.
“In our first game, we did a good job of batting with two strikes,” Creehan said. “We limited the strikeouts, but not tonight (with 11). We felt we had opportunities tonight, but didn’t hit well with runners in scoring position.”
Enzo Natale earned the win after pitching 1.2 innings. He was Pittsburgh’s fifth pitcher of the game. In all, the Redbirds allowed just the seven hits, but also walked seven and hit three batters.
“We’ve got a lot of pitchers who weren’t stretched out much during the college season,” Pittsburgh manager Chris Bardakos said. “We have a lot of polished middle relievers, not starters.”
Redbirds 001 001 320 1 — 8 12 1
Iron Bucks 110 100 301 0 — 7 7 2
W: Enzo Natale 1.2 IP (K, BB). L: Brian Pirone 2 IP (3K, 1BB).
Redbirds: Adam Och 2B R 2RBI, Erik Sundgren 1B R RBI, Dylan Barnes 1B 2B R 2RBI, Mason Metz 2B RBI, Brian Feldman 2-1B 2R, Jake Wessel 1B 2B 2R RBI
Iron Bucks: Chad Helwhich 1B R RBI, Lance Slater 1B 2B 2R, Mason Fixx 1B 2R, Cole Fleck 1B 3RBI
Thursday: Kiski Valley at Pittsburgh (Pullman Park)
Saturday: Butler at Kiski Valley (DH)
