Megan Moles
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The Butler baseball team started their 2010 season with a four-game road trip, winning their first game and dropping the next three at the Wofford College Tournament in Spartanburg, S.C.
The Bulldogs (1-3) began the season with a 9-3 win Friday against the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Junior Jared Wagoner pitched for the Bulldogs and threw seven shut out innings.
Wagoner allowed only three hits and one walk in his first start. He struck out four batters and never allowed multiple base runners. He was relieved by seniors Tyler Szymczak, who pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Jamie Feldheiser, who pitched the ninth.
The Bulldogs held the Highlanders scoreless until the ninth inning, after Butler had already scored nine runs.
Butler got on the board in the fifth inning when they scored three. Junior Michael Letzter scored the first run and added another in the sixth, increasing the lead to 5-0.
Butler would score their four remaining runs in the bottom of the eighth.
Junior Luke Duncan led the offense in the first game by scoring two runs on 3-for-5 hitting. Duncan also stole two bases.
Junior Corey Moylan batted in two runs, while freshman Andrew Eckhardt and junior Grant Fillipitch had two hits each.
The Bulldogs’ next challenge was a doubleheader against host Wofford Saturday. They dropped both games.
In the first of two games, Butler trailed in the bottom of the fourth, 3-1, when Wofford scored four runs, thanks in large part to Mac Doyle’s two-run homer.
Letzter hit Butler’s first solo home run of the season in the top of the seventh to bring the score to where it would stand, 7-2.
Juniors Jack Krause and Kyle Waggoner led the Butler offense in the first game. Krause batted in three runs, and Waggoner went 3-for-7 at the plate and scored a run.
In the second game against the Terriers, the Bulldogs jumped out to a three-run lead in the first inning by capitalizing on Wofford’s errors. Juniors Duncan, Corey Moylan and Kevin Crane each scored a run to get things started.
Wofford immediately equaled the Butler total in the bottom of the first. The game would tie again at 5-5 through three innings. During the next three innings, Wofford added eight more runs.
Butler would score only one more before falling 14-9.
Steve Farley, head coach for Butler baseball, said the team had a difficult challenge playing in a warmer climate.
“It was hard coming out of the snow that we’ve been playing on,” Farley said. “It’s challenging for us, but I thought the team definitely played hard.”
The Bulldogs finished their run in the tournament with a loss to USC-Upstate, 10-0.
Duncan led the team with two hits to bring his four-game average to .500.
Sophomore Ryan Salvino started on the mound for the Bulldogs and gave up only one run in four innings. Senior Jamie Feldheiser relieved him and had one scoreless inning.
“The guys were nervous going in,” Farley said. “We have a young team with a lot of freshmen, and this was their first game. There’s a lot we need to improve on, but we just need to play more games and get comfortable.
“Once the weather gets warmer, we will have practices outside and that’ll help a lot.”
Wagoner was named to the all-tournament team as a pitcher.
“As one of our team co-captains, Jared is a pitcher who leads by example, and he is one of the best athletes on our team,” Farley said. “In our season opener, he attacked opposing hitters with a good fastball, and he had good command of his breaking ball.
“He threw a very high percentage of strikes, which is critical to a pitcher’s success.”
The Bulldogs’ home opener is March 3, when they host Indiana Tech before starting a seven-game trip to Florida during Spring Break.
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