FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Thanks to a two-run seventh inning, Butler came away with a 5-4 win over Purdue Fort Wayne softball on Wednesday (March 15) in the Mastodons’ home opener.

The Mastodons weathered a three-run first inning in which Butler had three doubles. The tide shifted away from Butler once Gracie Brinkerhoff entered. She threw 1.1 innings of hit-less relief. Alanah Jones relieved her in the third inning, stranding two on base in the third and fifth innings and one in the fourth.

Brooke Wintlend made the game interesting with a two-run home run in the fourth just to the left of the center field wall, scoring Grace Hollopeter. In the next inning, Purdue Fort Wayne took its first lead of the game when the ‘Dons loaded the bases. Epiphany Hang collected an RBI when she drew a walk and sent Taryn Jenkins home, then Tori Countryman recorded the first RBI of her career on a single.

The ‘Dons held this 4-3 lead until the seventh, when Butler got the bats going again. The Bulldogs had gone the previous five innings with just two hits. Butler had a pair of doubles to find the tying run. Alyson Quinlan then struck out two batters in a row, but Ellie Boyer singled through the left side to score the game-winner. Quinlan took the loss to fall to 1-5. Butler’s Rylyn Dyer (4-5) got the win and Sydney Cammon picked up her first save of the season.

Purdue Fort Wayne moves to 5-16 and Butler improves to 8-18. The Mastodons will take the field again on Tuesday (March 21) for a pair of games at Youngstown State for the Horizon League opener. This series was originally scheduled for three games this weekend, but shifted due to forecasted cold in Youngstown.