Slippery Rock avenges earlier loss to Butler with blowout Eagle County victory
PROSPECT — The recipient of eight walks and seven batters reaching on errors, Slippery Rock was handed plenty of baserunners Wednesday night.
It cashed them in.
The first-year Eagle County League team scored 13 times in four innings to hand Butler a 13-3 five-inning baseball loss at the Prospect Boys and Girls Club.
“Those guys whipped us pretty good earlier this season,” Slippery Rock coach Sam Baic said. “It felt good to get back at them a little bit, re-establish ourselves.”
The game started in a disastrous way for Butler (4-4). Isaac McCandless singled to right to begin the contest and Karter Weitzel reached on an infield error. Matt Clippinger’s line drive was snagged by shortstop Zach Caldwell.
Caldwell was moving toward second as he caught the ball, easily doubling off McCandless. He then fired to first to nail Weitzel to complete a triple play.
Slippery Rock (3-4) fed off that momentum, scoring three times in the bottom of the first. Matt Stanick delivered a run-scoring single to highlight the frame. The hosts were never threatened after that.
“We were missing a lot of guys tonight,” said Butler manager Tyler Friel, who had to insert himself in the lineup at third base. “They (Slippery Rock) squared the ball up well and deserve credit for that, but we had some guys out there who haven’t played much baseball in a while.
“I’d say six or seven of our regulars weren’t here for this game. Some play in the Tri-State Collegiate League and played for their teams there, others had to work. That’s how it’s going to be in this league. The team with the most depth will be the most successful.”
Like Slippery Rock, Butler is a first-year team in the Eagle County League — part of the fallout from the folding of the Butler County Area Baseball League.
Winning pitcher Zach Thompson was on base four times — including a double and single — and scored three runs. Matt Stanick had three singles and four RBI, Ben Tharpe a double, three RBI and two runs scored.
Thompson threw 43 pitches in three innings, striking out one. Baic worked the final two frames on the mound.
“We’re going to rest our arms whenever we can,” Baic said. “We have enough guys who can throw that we can mix things up that way. Our team is a combination of Slippery Rock University’s club team and some guys who just want to play baseball.”
McCandless had a pair of singles for Butler. Clippinger, Friel and Jerome Oliver had run-scoring singles.
Butler 010 02x x — 3 6 7
Slippery Rock 314 5xx x — 13 7 2
WP: Zach Thompson 3 IP (1so, 2bb). LP: Braden Marcellus 3.1 IP (2so, 5bb).
Butler (4-4): Isaac McCandless 2-1B, John Piroch 1B, Matt Klippinger 1B RBI, Jerome Oliver 1B RBI, Tyler Friel 1B RBI.
Slippery Rock (3-4): Zach Thompson 2B 1B 3-R, Matt Stanick 3-1B 4-RBI, Sam Baic RBI, Zach Caldwell RBI 2-R, Severino Balog 2B 2-R, Ben Tharpe 2B 3-RBI 2-R, Ian Balquist RBI, Ron Cochran 2-R.
Friday: Mars Sliders at Butler (Butler High School), Slippery Rock at Zelienople
