JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Jacksonville University baseball dropped game three against Butler 7-3 on Sunday afternoon at John Sessions Stadium.

The Dolphins (8-4) were not able to complete the sweep over the Bulldogs.

Christian Graham started the game for the Dolphins going 4 innings giving up one with five strikeouts and three walks. Leighton Alley would then come in to relieve Graham and throw a scoreless 5th inning then Parker Murphy would throw a scoreless 6th.

For the Dolphins, Chase Malloy led off by getting hit by a pitch then would advance to second on a passed ball. A sacrifice bunt by Eli Flowers moved Malloy to third with one out. Christian Coipel stepped in with one-out and hit a deep fly ball to center field to earn an RBI giving Jacksonville the early lead 1-0.

In Jacksonville's half of the second inning, Jonah Diaz led it off with a base on balls. A one-out Jesus Pacheco double got Diaz to third base with only one out. A good piece of hitting by Josh Steidl to hit behind the runners drove in Diaz in on a groundout to the first baseman making it 2-0. 

In the top half of the fourth inning, a leadoff walk got the Bulldogs in business, followed by a sacrifice bunt to get the runner to second. With two-down, Butler was able to put together back-to-back basehits to drive in a run, cutting Jacksonville's lead in half, 2-1.

Malloy led off the Dolphin half of the sixth inning with a double and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Flowers. TJ Curd came in for Christian Coipel and in his first at-bat of the day delivered an RBI double into left-center field to push the Jacksonville lead to 3-1.

However, the lead did not last as Butler caught fire in the top of the seventh inning, scoring six runs on only four hits and an error prolonged the inning, as five of the runs were not earned, giving Butler a 7-3 lead, which would be the final.

UP NEXT

The Dolphins travel to Gainesville to take on the #14 ranked Florida Gators on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at Florida Ballpark.

THREE STRIKES

• JU has won each of its first three weekend series this year
• The Dolphins pitching staff recorded 11 strikeouts
• Jacksonville faces a ranked opponent for the second time this season on Tuesday