Bryce Hirayama
Student Sports Media
Up until March 5, the Butler baseball team had only lost one game on the year but that all changed when Garden City beat the Grizzlies in back to back games. The Grizzlies were outscored 9-5 in the double-header, losing 3-2 in the first game and 6-3 in the second.
“It was a shock to all of us but it was what we needed to get our minds right,” freshman center fielder Jackson Syring said. “Conference games will always be dog fights, and it really showed us what we were made of as a team. This whole team has a winning mentality, and dropping two in a row will be a rare occurrence this year.”
He was correct as the Grizzlies returned home and beat Garden City in back to back games outscoring the Broncbusters 27-10. The Grizzlies won the first game by a score 8-4. The leading hitter for the Grizzlies was sophomore catcher Colby Standard who went 3-3 and had three RBI’s. The winning pitcher for the Grizzlies was freshman Nate Adler who in six innings on the mound had four earned runs, four strikeouts and two walks on way to his fourth victory on the year.
In the second game of the double-header, the Grizzlies opened the floodgates and mounted an offensive assault, beating Garden City 19-6. The Grizzlies came out in the bottom of the first and put up a nine run inning and their lead never wavered. While almost everyone helped contribute to the onslaught of runs two players stood out, sophomores Colby Standard and Thomas Beiswanger.
Standard once again had a great performance against the Broncbusters as he went 4-4 and had three RBIs as well as a home run. Beiswanger also had a great performance as he went 3-5, but had five RBIs and two home runs. The winning pitcher for the Grizzlies was freshman Garrett DeHaas who pitched 3.2 innings and allowed no hits or earned runs to help seal the dominant victory for the Grizzlies.
