Plenty of base runners. But hits?

Not so much.

The Butler BlueSox were limited to one hit in their home opener — an infield single by Grove City High graduate Alex Miklos in the sixth inning — in dropping an 8-3 decision to Champion City Thursday night at Kelly Automotive Park.

“It was frustrating because we had guys on base, plenty of opportunities,” BlueSox manager Jason Radwan said. “We just couldn’t generate any hits at all.

“It’s only one game, 58 to go. There’s an adjustment period going on. Some of these guys have never used a wooden bat before. Some are seeing their first live action in a long time. We’ll come around.”

The BlueSox (0-2) received eight walks and two batters were hit by pitches. Champion City starter Eric Ashbrook, a University of Dayton freshman, pitched hitless ball for 4.2 innings, but walked six and hit the two batters.

Ashbrook had thrown 81 pitches — 44 wide of the plate — when he was pulled.

“We had some control issues out there, but our pitchers were resilient,” 21-year-old Kings manager Chris Perkovich said. “We pitched out of trouble.”

Butler took an early 2-0 lead despite the lack of offense. Michael Patrick walked, stole second and scored on a Russell Clark ground-out in the second. Ty White walked and scored on a wild pitch in the third.

In the meantime, BlueSox starting pitcher Josh Lapiana, a freshman at the University of Akron, retired the first nine hitters he faced, throwing only 23 pitches.

“Sometimes you get that first hit and you find a way to break through,” Perkovich said. “It upsets the pitcher’s rhythm.”

Lapiana’s first two pitches in the fourth resulted in a double to left-center and a triple down the right field line. Lee Sponseller — who had three hits on the night — delivered a sacrifice fly to left to tie the game.

The BlueSox had a chance to snap the tie in the bottom of the fifth, but winning pitcher David Lemasters came out of the bullpen to strike out Patrick with the bases loaded to end a threat.

Champion City (2-0) broke the game open in the sixth. With two outs and two on, the Kings produced four consecutive hits to plate five runs. The last of those hits was a two-run double by No. 9 hitter Connor Foley.

Lapiana was pulled that inning with runners on second and third and one out. He struck out five and threw 52 of his 72 pitches for strikes.

“Josh was very sharp,” Radwan said. “He wasn’t pulled for lack of performance. We want to keep him on a low pitch count this early in the season.”

Miklos opened the sixth with a slow chopper to shortstop John Goodrich that the latter was unable to handle. Miklos would have beaten the throw to first base regardless.

Miklos wound up scoring on Clark’s second RBI grounder of the night.

“We could have gotten some better swings off some of the off-speed pitches we saw tonight and we’ll work on that,” Radwan said. “But their pitchers all came in and threw hard. They did a nice job against us.”

Notes: Official attendance was listed at 434. ... The BlueSox host Champion City again tonight. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. with fireworks scheduled for after the game.

Champion City 000 205 001 — 8 12 0

BlueSox 011 001 000 — 3 1 0

W: David Lemasters 3.1IP (3K, 2BB). L: Josh Lapiana 5.1IP (5K, 1BB).

Champion City (2-0): Eric Peterson 2B 1B 2-R, Ridge Winard 3B RBI 2-R, Lee Sponseller 3-1B RBI, Sean Kennedy 1B RBI, John Goodrich 1B 2-RBI, Steven Moore 1B, Roman Gammell 2-1B RBI, Connor Foley 2B 2-RBI

BlueSox (0-2): Alex Miklos 1B, Russell Clark 2-RBI

Today: Champion City at BlueSox, 7:05 p.m.