SLIPPERY ROCK — Josh Tinnon was good.

Kyle Thomas and Adam Dian were better.

Tinnon, thrust onto the mound for Slippery Rock following a pregame injury to scheduled starter Michael Ciaro, tossed a complete-game two-hitter.

Unfortunately for Tinnon and the Sliders, Butler managed to push across a single run against the right-hander in the top of the first inning as Butler hung on for a 1-0 victory in Prospect League baseball action at Critchfield Park Friday night.

“I like these close games,” said Butler coach Anthony Rebyanski, “but, man, they really take a toll on my insides.”

The BlueSox got another exceptional start from Thomas.

The left-hander went eight innings, striking out eight and walking just one.

Slippery Rock hit just two balls out of the infield in the first five innings.

“Kyle was outstanding,” Rebyanski said. “He got the groundouts and the pop ups he needed.”

Thomas, though, needed help in the ninth inning.

He gave up a leadoff double to Zach Looney and yielded to closer Adam Dian, who got a pair of strikeouts sandwiched around a stellar defensive play by third baseman George Roberts to earn his 12th save of the season.

“Adam is not fazed by this stuff,” Rebyanski said. “He loves coming in a tight game with guys on base. That's the type of guy, mentality-wise, that you want as your closer.”

The only run Butler needed was scored early.

Leadoff hitter Brendan Costantino began the game with a sharp single to left, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout by Elliott Caldwell.

After that, Tinnon was virtually untouchable in an emergency start that he actually foreshadowed hours before the game.

“Ironically enough, (Tinnon) came into the office before the game and asked me, 'Coach, what do you think about starting me?'” said Slippery Rock manager Shawn Pynn. “We know he's the hungriest kid on the team in regards to the pitching staff. He went out and you could see the entire team feeding off him. Nothing was going to get him out of the zone he was in.”

Tinnon has a jerky, nearly sidearm delivery and hid the ball well.

“It was hard to pick up the ball,” Costantino said. “He did a great job. He was hitting his spots and keeping us off-balance. We didn't make the adjustments that we needed to make.”

Tinnon needed just 98 pitches to get through nine innings. He threw 69 strikes.

Despite the loss, Pynn was more than pleased with the way his team played.

“If we show up and play like this every night, I don't care if we win or lose,” Pynn said. “I'll be happy.”

Slippery Rock nearly plated the tying run in the ninth, but Roberts made the defensive play of the night on a corkscrew groundball by Ryan Abernathy.

The grounder between third and short made a sudden spin to Roberts' right. Roberts reached back, snagged the ball with his bare throwing hand and fired a strike to first baseman Kyle Petty to nip Abernathy for the second out of the inning.

“I thought, 'There's the spinner that's going to hurt us,'” Rebyanski said. “But he stuck with it and made a great play and throw.”

After an 18-12 first half of the season, the BlueSox are off to a 7-1 start in the second half.

Rebyanski, though, said there is no time to relax.

“We have a couple of hours to enjoy this one, then it's right back at it (Saturday),” Rebyanski said. “You can't go in lackadaisical. Despite (the Sliders') record, they have a good team over there,”

Butler 100 000 000 — 1 2 0

Slippery Rock 000 000 000 — 0 3 0

W: Kyle Thomas 8IP (8K, 1BB). L: Josh Tinnon 9IP (8K, 0BB).

Butler (7-1): Brendan Costantino 1B SB R, Elliott Caldwell RBI, Jason Radwan 1B SB

Slippery Rock (1-7): Zach Looney 2B, Pat Gelwicks 1B, Trent Wooldridge 1b

Saturday: Slippery Rock at Butler