Butler bats quiet in 6-2 loss
Butler was in position to bounce back. Moon pitcher Andrew Bures denied it.
By the time the Golden Tornado had another scoring opportunity, the visiting Tigers had a 5-0 lead and went on to post a 6-2 baseball win Wednesday afternoon at Michelle Krill Memorial Field at Historic Pullman Park.
Butler (1-1) managed only four hits and committed four errors in the game.
“When you kick the ball around, you help the other team out more runners in scoring position,” Butler coach Josh Forbes said. “They took advantage of those opportunites.”
Moon’s first five runs were scored with two outs. The Tigers (2-1) struck for three runs in the top of the first inning against Tornado starter James Desmond. After two walks and two outs, Nathan Barr lined a run-scoring single to left. Will Marasco had an infield single and two more Tiger runs crossed the plate on errors.
The Tornado were set up to respond when Lance Slater singled to center and Noah Collins walked to begin the bottom of the first. With one out, both runners moved up on a passed ball.
Liam McElroy popped to second and Mac Schnur struck out to end the threat.
“You can win games with two outs and you can lose games with two outs,” Forbes said. “It went their way today.”
With two outs and nobody on in the third, Barr and Marasco singled and advanced on a wild pitch. Alex Ashberry singled to center to plate both runners.
Moon was 1-9 in section play last season and opened this season with a 17-1 loss to a team from Bristol (Tenn.) during a South Carolina trip.
“Andrew started that game for us and didn’t have command of his pitches that day,” first-year Moon coach Rich Rowe said. “That was my first game as head coach ... I’m sure the parents loved me.
“We had Andrew start out today with some off-speed stuff and he got into a groove. He pitched well.”
Bures worked five innings, striking out six and allowing three hits. He surrendered a run-scoring double to left by Mavrik Clement in the fifth. Clement later scored on a wild pitch. But the Tornado could muster nothing else offensively.
“Their pitcher did a good job moving balls in and out, up and down,” Forbes said. “He kept us off-balance. He pitched a solid game.”
Desmond worked three innings on the mound for Butler. Brady Lyon pitched the final four frames, striking out three and allowing a run and two hits.
“This is a nice win for us,” Rowe said. “We’re trying to stress the team concept this year. We have 20 players on the roster and 18 of them got in the game today. We’re still starting out who can do what for us.”
Moon 302 000 1 — 6 9 0
Butler 000 020 0 — 2 4 4
WP: Andrew Bures 5IP (6k, 3bb). LP: James Desmond 3IP (2k, 2bb).
Moon (2-1): Austin Hiles 1B, Jacob Despot 1B 2B, Nate Lesher 1B, Nathan Barr 2-1B RBI 2-R, Will Marasco 2-1B, Alex Ashberry 1B 2-RBI.
Butler (1-1): Lance Slater 1B, Liam McElroy 1B, Colin Casteel 1B, Mavrik Clement 2B RBI.
Monday: Butler at Gateway
