The friendly confines of Pullman Park seemed to be just what the Butler BlueSox needed.

After a 1-3 road trip that concluded Wednesday in Chillicothe dropped the team’s road record to 1-6, the BlueSox were glad to return home Thursday against Lorain County, Ohio.

“When we’re on the road, I’m not sure if it’s bus lag or a lack of concentration, but we seem to play a little better here (at Pullman),” said Butler manager Anthony Rebyanski. “I told the guys, you can’t go through the motions when playing baseball.”

The BlueSox responded with an 11-hit night on offense and a strong performance from three pitchers in a 5-4 victory over the Ironmen.

Leading the way was left-fielder Neal Jacobs, who went 3-for-4 with three singles, a run scored and another batted in.

“We struggled in Chillicothe (two losses by a combined score of 24-7),” said Jacobs. “This win boosts everyone’s confidence.”

Butler took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth when, with the score tied at four, Jacobs led off the frame with a single and later scored on Elliott Caldwell’s two-out double. The run was charged to Lorain reliever Rob Sakosky.

From there, the BlueSox left the outcome in the hands of their pitching, which proved up to the task.

After starter Kyle Thomas left the game after allowing four runs (three earned) in 6 1/3 innings, Jon Danielczyk came in and stranded two Ironmen in the seventh and earned the first out in the eighth. He then gave way to Adam Dian, who struck out four of the five batters he faced to earn the save.

In all, Butler’s pitchers struck out 13 and walked just three, a welcome sight for Rebyanski.

“Walks and hit-batsmen have been hurting us,” he said. “We tell the guys to make them beat you.”

Thomas, a southpaw, picked up the win after striking out seven and walking two.

“He was throwing his fastball and all of his pitches for strikes,” Rebyanski said. “Things were working really well for him tonight.”

Lorain manager Joe Rhomberg agreed.

“He did a great job keeping us off-balanced,” he said.

One player who had Thomas’ number was Lorain left-fielder Sam Alvis, who belted a pair of two-run home runs, one in the second inning and another in the sixth.

“He hit well in this league last year, hitting four or five home runs,” Rhomberg said of Alvis. “He seems really relaxed at the plate right now.”

Butler (7-8) plated two runs in the first off of Lorain starter Spencer Bryant — Matt Albaugh and Jason Radwan coming through with RBI-base hits.

With the score tied at two in the third, the Sox got an RBI-groundout from Eric Hess and later a run-scoring single from Jacobs.

“He’s been up and down so far this year,” Rebyanski said of Jacobs. “He just needs to be more consistent, but is getting better.”

Taking the loss for the Ironmen (6-8) was Sakosky, who pitched three innings of relief and allowed one run on two hits.

Lorain County 020 002 000 — 4 5 0

Butler 202 001 00x — 5 11 2

W: Kyle Thomas 6.1IP (7K, 2BB). L: Rob Sakosky 3IP (1K, 1BB). S: Adam Dian 1.2IP (4K, 0BB).

Lorain County (6-8): Nathan Antone 2R, Sam Alvis 2HR 4RBI, Scott White 1B 2B, Kevin Javanovich 1B

Butler (7-8): Elliott Caldwell 1B 2B R RBI, Chris Rasky 1B R, Kyle Petty 1B R, Matt Albaugh 2-1B R RBI, Eric Hess RBI, Jason Radwan 1B RBI, Neal Jacobs 3-1B R RBI, Justin Brozick 1B

Today: Lorain County at Butler