BECKLEY, W.Va. — GJ Senchak pitched six strong innings and the Butler BlueSox earned a crucial 4-1 victory on Sunday over the West Virginia Miners at Linda K. Epling Stadium.

Butler (31-23) has a one-game lead over the Chillicothe Paints (30-24) for second place in the East Division and a spot in the Prospect League postseason with six games to play.

The BlueSox will kick off a critical two-game series against the Paints Tuesday in Chillicothe. The teams have split their previous 10 meetings this season. The Miners hold a four-game cushion for the division lead.

Butler took control of Sunday’s win with a three-run fifth inning, before Tyler Ferguson provided a stellar bullpen effort with 2 2-3 scoreless innings for his fourth save of the season.

Butler High grad Cody Herald — whose batting average sits at .316 for the season — recorded one of four hits for the BlueSox. He doubled and drove in a run. Matt Peters, Alex Jurich and recent addition Andrew Bonnette also had base knocks.

Senchak, a New Castle native, gave up four hits, struck out five and walked one while lowering his ERA to 3.91 on the year.

Lorain County 14, Slippery Rock 1 — The Ironmen jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning and coasted to victory over the Sliders.

Isaac Smith collected four hits and fell a homer short of the cycle for Lorain (21-33), while Scott Splett, Ryan Leffel and Nate Langhals all went deep.

Cooper Mickelson, Matt Calhoun, Parker Osborne, and Joel Klock singled for Slippery Rock (24-30).