Butler blanks Garden City in series opener
By Mike Pilosof
Garden City, KS-Give Amy Schmeckpeper a lot of credit for what she has done with her team this year. But on Monday, the first-year coach got a glimpse of the best team in the conference, and perhaps the nation.
Maddie Redman struck out eight, she and Kelcie Kippes combined for a no hitter, and third-ranked Butler rolled to an 11-0 victory in five innings at Tangeman Sports Complex.
"I think today was more of a mentality thing than anything," Schmeckpeper said afterwards. "We played really timid."
And it showed right from the start.
Micaela Mirabal's error at third to begin the game got Butler going. Shayna Espy followed with an RBI single, and Emily Adler ripped a run-scoring base hit to left to make it 2-0.
It stayed that way until the third when Adler struck again with a lead-off double. Ari Cordova brought her around with a single to center, Sydney Adler and Tadum Soetaert clubbed a pair of RBI knocks, and it was 5-0.
"Our pitchers were working from behind a lot all day, and that really hurt us," Schmeckpeper added.
Meantime, the Broncbusters could not find a rhythm at the plate. They went down in order in both the first and second innings before Mirabal ended the perfect game with a six-pitch walk with two outs in the third. But Redman quickly regained command, getting McKayla Encinias to ground out to third. She and Kippes proceeded to retire the final six Garden City hitters.
In the Butler fourth, a Hannah Knox single, and an error by Arianna Griego in right, put the visitors up 8-0. Then in the fifth, the Grizzlies plated three more, fueled by a pair of RBI base hits by Adler and Knox.
Redman and Kippes combined to throw just 68 pitches for Butler, which won its 28th straight game. Adler finished 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and Espy scored three times.
Tara Reid struggled all day, allowing 11 runs on 13 hits in five innings. But she didn't get much help behind her as Garden City committed five errors, their second most in a game this season.