Butler Swept by Colby at Home

EL DORADO, Kan. – In the final home regular season games of 2025, Butler baseball was unable to pick up a win, falling 13-7 and 6-3 to the Colby Trojans at McDonald Stadium.

Butler (24-25, 15-15) is now in fifth place in the KJCCC West standings as Colby (29-24, 16-14) passes them up for fourth place. The Grizzlies need to sweep the Trojans on Saturday at Young Memorial Field to secure a top-four finish to ensure they can host the opening round of the Plains District Tournament.

Entering the seventh inning of game one, Butler held a 5-4 lead after a Kaleb Nye sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth. Colby proceeded to plate nine runs in the top of the seventh inning, chasing two Grizzly pitchers and sending 13 batters to the plate. Butler added two runs in the bottom of the seventh off a Cooper Rasmussen two-run home run, his 15th of the season, but it was too little too late. Colby outhit Butler 15-12 in the game. The Trojans built a 4-0 lead with a run in the first and three in the second before Butler got on the board in the fourth with three runs to make it 4-3 as Rasmussen had an RBI single and Jackson Ellison smashed a two-run home run. Breck Romero hit a solo home run in the fifth to tie the game 4-4. Butler starter Shane Holman (L, 7-2), threw 6.0 innings allowing six runs on eight hits, striking out five and walking one. He was pulled in the seventh after allowing a leadoff double and a hit batter. Colby was led by Turner Zdunich who was 4-5 with eight runs driven in.

Butler faced an early deficit once again in game two as Colby brought home three runs across the first two innings. Amarion Sailer got Butler on the board with an RBI single in the third to make it 3-1. A pair of Colby home runs, one in the fifth and one in the sixth, saw their lead grow to 6-1. Butler scored two in the sixth as Jaden Rose delivered an RBI double and a double steal later scored Rose making it 6-3. Neither team brought a run home across the final three innings despite Butler getting its lead runner on in all three innings. Whitley Rhodes (L, 2-3) got the start for Butler throwing 6.0 innings allowing six runs on six hits, striking out three and walking one. Connor Clark threw 3.0 strong innings in relief allowing no runs on one hit with a strikeout. Colby's Dallen Rude tossed 3.2 scoreless innings in relief with no hits, striking out three and walking two.

TOP PERFORMERS GAME 1:

Cooper Rasmussen (Temecula, CA): 2-4, 3 RBI, 2 R, HR, SB

Jackson Ellison (Wichita, KS): 2-4, 2 RBI, 2 R, SB

Amarion Sailer (Rapid City, SD): 2-4, BB

TOP PERFORMERS GAME 2:

Jackson Ellison (Wichita, KS): 2-4, R

Kaleb Nye (Wichita, KS): 2-4

Holden Lough (Spring Hill, KS): 3 BB

Connor Clark (League City, TX): 3.0 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 K, 1 BB

NEXT UP:

Butler travels to Colby on Saturday for a doubleheader at Young Memorial Field to close out the regular season. First pitch at 1 p.m.