The Butler BlueSox produced a walk-off victory Saturday night.

They walked off the field in frustration Sunday at Kelly Automotive Park.

Despite not getting a base-runner until the fifth inning, the visiting Springfield Sliders banged out 12 hits in turning a 6-0 deficit into a 7-6 triumph over the BlueSox. Butler (11-24) committed five errors and turned four double plays in the loss.

“We made some of the plays we had to make. We didn’t make all the plays we had to and that wound up hurting us,” BlueSox manager Cody Herald said.

Knoch graduate Dom Bucko was the hard-luck losing pitcher, working the seventh inning and allowing two runs — the tying and winning tallies.

Bucko tiook the mound with a 6-5 lead. He hit Josh White with a pitch to start the frame. White stole second and advanced to third on an errant throw by the catcher. Garet Griffin walked. With one out, Tyler Tesmond’s ground ball to shortstop was booted as the tying run scored. Richard Miller singled to left to produce the eventual winning run.

“We had to keep battling back,” Sliders manager Steve Leonetti said. “Butler has good players and they always play us tough, but we needed to get out of here with a split.”

The BlueSox won Saturday night, 5-4, scoring twice in the bottom of the ninth. Bucko’s sacrifice fly tied the score and a two-out error by the shortstop enabled the winning run to cross the plate.

Butler nearly walked off another win Sunday.

Springfield (19-18) loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the ninth. Hunter Morris flied out to center fielder Andrew Chuba, who threw a strike to the plate to cut down Logan Stephens trying to score. Anthony Smith grounded into a force play to end the threat.

Bucko stepped to the plate to begin the bottom of the ninth and hit the first pitch into the left-center field gap for a triple. But with the Springfield infield playing in, Bucko ran on contact as Ray Scala bounced to second. Bucko got himself in a rundown before being tagged out, enabling Scala to get into second base.

Chuba walked and Jeff Wehler was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs. Colton Carney grounded out to second to end the game.

“Everyone has to play good, solid baseball for nine innings to win these games,” BlueSox starting pitcher and Knoch graduate Cole Shinsky said. “We didn’t do that today — including me.”

Shinsky retired the first 12 batters he faced, striking out six, while his teammates built him a 6-0 lead. Kellen Sarver’s two-run single in the third was followed by a three-run homer to right by Wehler.

Chuba produced a two-out RBI single in the fourth.

Miller led off the Sliders’ fifth with a dribbler in front of the plate that Sarver couldn’t find the handle on. Morris walked on four pitches and Adam Lopez lined a single to center to load the bases.

Smith’s single to right plated one run. A double play grounder plated another and White’s two-out single to right cut the gap to 6-3.

When Stephens greeted Shinsky with a single to right to begin the sixth — advancing to third on a two-out error — Shinsky was removed from the game.

“I guess I just lost my concentration that (fifth) inning,” Shinsky said. “That can’t happen. That’s on me.

“Before that, I was spotting my fastball well and getting a lot of swings and misses with my cutter.”

Leonetti wasn’t sad to see Shinsky go.

“That kid is good. He’s got some talent,” Leonetti said. “We couldn’t touch him in those first four innings.”

An RBI triple by Miller keyed a two-run Slider sixth inning, setting up the go-ahead seventh frame. Double play balls short--circuited Springfield rallies in the fifth, sixth and seventh.

“Things just snowballed against Cole in that one inning,” Herald said. “We just have to keep plugging away. There’s a lot of games left and we can still get on a roll.

“I keep telling these guys. Your (college) coaches sent you here for a reason — to get better. We have to start doing that.”

Springfield 000 032 200 — 7 12 0

Butler BlueSox 005 100 000 — 6 8 5

W: Ben Stephens 2.2IP (3K, 2BB). L: Dom Bucko 1IP (0K, 1BB).

Springfield (19-18): Logan Stephens 2-1B, Tyler Tesmond RBI, Richard Miller 3B 2-1B 2-RBI 2-R, Hunter Morris 1B RBI, Adam Lopez 2B 2-1B, Anthony Smith 2-1B RBI, Josh White 1B RBI

Butler (11-24): Andrew Chuba 2-1B RBI, Kellen Sarver 1B 2-RBI, Jeff Wehler HR 3-RBI, Grant Hannant 2-1B 2-R, Dom Bucko 3B, Ray Scala 1B

Monday: Butler at Kokomo (Ind.)