Top-ranked Butler takes two from Garden City

By Mike Pilosof

Garden City, KS-They already had their seventh straight Jayhawk West crown in the bag. All that was left for Butler to accomplish during the regular season was some fine tuning.

All Wednesday proved was that Butler is a well-oiled machine, unlike any other team in the nation.

The Grizzlies crushed three more home runs, adding to their school record total of 93, as Butler swept Garden City 15-0 and 13-0 at Tangeman Sports Complex. With the victories, Butler extended the nation's longest winning streak to 82 straight games.

Butler (44-0, 20-0) stormed out of the gates with five runs in the first in game one. After Brynn Minor tripled home two, Darrianne Hale hit her 15^th home run of the season: a two-run shot to left that made it 4-0. The Grizzlies added one more in the frame when Allison Jurgensen scored on Erica Vessels error at short.  

The Grizzlies continued to pour it on from there, scoring a run in the second and seven more in the third, thanks to two homers in the inning: a two-run shot by Becca Schulte and a three-run blast by Alexis Reed that made it 13-0. Butler finished off the run rule in the fifth when pinch hitter Nykiah Hines singled home two.

Regan Mergele improved to 21-0, combining with Hale and Celina Sullivan to no hit the Broncbusters. Mergele registered seven punch outs.

Samantha Akers dropped to 5-15 in the circle, allowing 15 runs on 15 hits for Garden City (14-34, 3-19). She gave up three homers and walked two.

Not much changed in the second game.

Minor's RBI triple and Hale's run-scoring single gave the Grizzlies a 2-0 edge. That grew to 6-0 in the third when Schulte laced a two-run triple before coming home to score on Vessels error. Four batters later, Sullivan singled home one.

In the fourth, Minor added her second RBI triple; then scored on a miscue by third baseman Nicole Milford to make it 8-0.

The Grizzlies finished off the sweep in the fifth, tagging Desiree Perea for five more runs.

Minor improved to 7-0 in the circle for Butler, holding Garden City without a hit in three innings. Perea took the loss for the Broncbusters, allowing 13 runs on 13 hits while throwing 122 pitches. She walked three.

Next up: Garden City vs. Pratt-Saturday, April 22-2 p.m. and 4 p.m.