A freakish injury wiped out a large chunk of Cody Herald’s season with the Butler BlueSox in 2013.

The Butler High graduate and Seton Hill University junior is determined to make up for it in 2014.

He got off to a good start toward achieving that goal with two of Butler’s three hits in a 2-0 shutout over West Virginia on a soggy — and late — Wednesday night.

“Last year I was real excited, then I had that freak accident,” said Herald, who fouled a pitch off his right cheek bone in mid-June last season. Seven fractures and three stabilizing plates later, he was out for more than a month.

“When (BlueSox coach Anthony Rebyanski) called me to come back this year,” Herald continued, “I was very excited to come back again.”

Herald had a huge season at Seton Hill, leading the Griffins in batting average (.346), doubles (16) and runs scored (43).

He was off to a slow start at the plate this season for Butler, but his 2-for-3 performance on a night very much dominated by pitching from both sides has broken him out of his mini-slump.

“It takes a little while at the beginning of the year to get used to the wood bat,” Herald said. “I was hitting the ball hard, just right at people. I just try to keep the same mind-set. You can’t really control what happens after it leaves your bat. It felt really good today.”

Herald scored on a sacrifice fly by Nick Sell — Sell’s second of the game — in the bottom of the eighth inning for a 2-0 Butler lead.

The BlueSox pitching did the rest.

Denis Lyman struck out nine in six innings for the win. Dave Yakopec worked a scoreless seventh and eighth and Dan Kopchak, in his first outing of the season, fanned two in a perfect ninth.

Herald secured the final out of the shutout win on an easy fly ball to right.

The three Butler pitchers combined to give up just one hit, a first-inning single to West Virginia No. 2 batter Mike Brosseau.

Herald is just happy he doesn’t have to face the Butler pitching this season.

“It’s really easy for them to get into a groove,” Herald said. “It’s easy for us to come in here and start hitting because we know the pitchers are giving everything they have.”

Rebyanski said the hitting, which has been up-and-down so far this season, will come around.

Herald, the No. 3 hitter in the order, is a key to that.

“He had a great spring — all those Seton Hill guys had great springs,” Rebyanski said of Herald. “He’s bigger, stronger, faster. Once he gets into that groove, he’s going to be pretty hard to beat. That’s why I have him in that No. 3 hole, to drive in those two guys ahead of him who have speed on the bases.”

Butler got it’s first run without the benefit of a hit as Lavoie walked the first three BlueSox batters he faced on 13 pitches.

Sell then drove a ball deep to foul ground in right to score leadoff hitter Stephen Sada from third for a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.

It turned out to be the only run Butler would need in a game that was delayed more than two hours by rain and severe storms.

“It’s still early. The hits are going to come,” Rebyanski said. “We have a lot of good bat control throughout our lineup with a lot of power, so when that stuff starts clicking, I think we’re going to be OK.”

West Virginia 000 000 000 — 0 1 0

Butler 100 000 01x — 2 3 0

W: Denis Lyman 6IP (9K, 2BB). L: Ryan Lavoie 6.2IP (0K, 5BB).

West Viginia (5-8): Mike Brosseau 1B

Butler (7-5): Cody Herald 1B 2B, Nick Sell 2-RBI, Anthony Smith 1B

Tonight: West Virginia at Butler, 6:35 p.m.