An intentional walk was followed by an unintentional pitch.

The result was a 10-inning, 4-3 Butler BlueSox victory over West Virginia Sunday night at Pullman Park.

Butler graduate John Crummy opened the bottom of the 10th with a single to left for the BlueSox. Stephen Vranka ran for him, but was forced out at second when Matt Berezo’s sacrifice bunt attempt got to the pitcher too quickly. Colin Harrington drew a walk and both runners moved up on a wild pitch.

After the wild pitch, Shayne Houck — hitting .368 and had two singles earlier in the night — was intentionally walked.

“We’ve been searching for someone to protect Shayne’s bat in our lineup,” BlueSox manager Anthony Rebyanski said. “We need a consistent bat in that No. 4 spot in our order.”

Enter Brian Lares.

The Wabash (Ind.) College outfielder took an 0-2 pitch from Jesse Fernandez and lined it into left field for the game-winning single.

Lares began the night with a .215 average and no home runs.

“I’m not going to hit home runs,” he said. “But what I can do is go with the pitch and square the ball up.

“With the count 0-2, all I wanted to do there was not strike out. I fought off a slider, then he threw me another fastball. I shortened my swing and took it the other way.”

The pitch caught more of the plate than Fernandez had intended.

“This was a good game for the fans to watch, a tough one for us,” West Virginia manager Gary Epling said. “When you strand nine runners, seven in scoring position, and lose by a run, it’s tough to take.

“We’ve been in a lot of close games with this team. We both have good pitching.”

The Miners took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, getting an RBI single from Zach Tanner and a single by Joe Koch on a suicide squeeze bunt. Koch had three singles and was on base five times in the game.

West Virginia managed to score just one more time the rest of the game — Clayton Prestridge doubling home a tally in the seventh — as the BlueSox battled back.

A bases-loaded walk to Berezo got Butler on the board in the fifth. A sacrifice fly by Freeport graduate Ryan Siegel and two-out RBI single by Jacob Reese gave the hosts a 3-2 lead in the sixth.

Reese had three singles in the contest.

“We missed some opportunities early in the game, but we scratched the big run across late,” Rebyanski said. “The (Lares) clutch hit was the hit that counted.”

Butler had a runner at third and one out in the second inning, but Siegel struck out and Reese grounded to second. After Berezo’s run-scoring walk in the fifth, Colin Harrington grounded into a double play.

“This win gives us huge momentum going into the All-Star break,” Lares said.

Butler had dropped a doubleheader to the Miners Saturday in West Virginia, losing by scores of 2-1 and 3-1.

“Taking a third consecutive loss like that to these guys would have been difficult,” Rebyanski admitted. “This was big.”

The BlueSox play at Lorain County (Ohio) tonight before the Prospect League’s three-day All-Star break arrives.

West Virginia 200 000 100 0 — 3 9 1Butler BlueSox 000 012 000 1— 4 8 21 out when winning run scoredW: Wes Rich 2 IP (3K, 1BB).

L: Jesse Feernandez 2.1 IP (2K, 2BB).

West Virginia (3-3): Clayton Prestridge 2-2B RBI, Zach Tanner 1B RBI, Blake Roberts 1B, Joe Koch 3-1B RBI, Coby Chadick 1B, Sam Frost 1B

Butler BlueSox (3-3): Matt Berezo RBI, Shayne Houck 2-1B, Brian Lares 1B RBI, Ryan Siegel RBI, Jacob Reese 3-1B RBI, Bret Basilone 1B, John Crummy 1B

Monday: Butlert at Lorain