Coming down the final stretch of the year, the Braves have seven games left and face a harsh uphill climb.
Of those seven remaining games, the Braves face tough challenges as six are against the third and sixth place teams in the Missouri Valley Conference.
The sixth place team is the Wichita State Shockers, whom the Braves face this weekend in a three-game series.
Even though the Shockers were picked as the preseason favorite to win the MVC, Coach Elvis Dominguez attributed this to the tough nature of the conference.
“Its the fifth ranked conference in the country, and the only northern conference in the top ten,” said Dominguez. “Preseason favorite Wichita State is sitting in sixth place. That tells you what kind of conference [it is].”
Following a weekend series sweep by first place University of Evansville, the Braves find themselves in eighth place in the MVC with a dismal 4-11 conference record.
While the last game of the three-game series against the Aces evoked the MVC’s mercy rule with a 12-2 beat down of the visiting Braves, the first two games were much closer.
The Braves improved their play from Friday April 25, as they lost 5-2, but it wasn’t enough as they fell 5-4 on Saturday.
A big part of the Braves’ downfall was the team’s inability to take advantage of scoring opportunities.
“We left 13 guys on base,” said Dominguez. “We played really well on Saturday, we just couldn’t get a clutch hit when we needed to.”
Steve Adkins made his third start on the mound for the Braves, but the sophomore right-hander’s outing wasn’t what he had hoped it would be.
The Elmhurst, Illinois native went only 3.2 innings, allowing four earned runs while only striking out two batters.
Following the series sweep, the Braves returned home to face off against the Flames from the University of Illinois-Chicago.
Both teams scored early, but the Braves couldn’t keep up with the Flames, as the visitors scored in all but three innings.
Freshman third baseman Spencer Gaa tied a school single-game record with three doubles, and junior outfielder Max Murphy hit his eighth home run of the year, but fell to UIC 9-5.
“We fought well as a team, [but] we based it on getting that one hit to get everyone going,” said sophomore shortstop Tyler Leffler. “We had guys on base, and we just couldn’t drive in the big run.”
Leffler, who is second in the MVC with a .469 on base percentage, was tabbed as Bradley’s most valuable player by Dominguez.
“He’s really been our catalyst on offense and defense,” said Dominguez. “He’s really matured from a year ago.”
It was also Leffler who made ESPN’s Top Ten plays of the night, ranking fourth on the list for a tough defensive play to rob a Dallas Baptist player from getting on base.
“It was a really cool experience,” said Leffler. “I made the play and didn’t really think much of it. Then everyone was kind of going crazy.”
The Braves return home from their final road series of the year against Wichita State Tuesday May 6, as they face off against Robert Morris-Springfield, and then play their last three-game series of the year against Indiana State from May 15 to 17.by making a tough defensive play to rob a Dallas Baptist player from getting on base.
“It was a really cool experience,” said Leffler. “I made the play and didn’t really think much of it then everyone was kind of going crazy.”
The Braves return home from their final road series of the year against
Wichita State on Tuesday, as they face off against Robert Morris-Springfield Tuesday, and then play their last three-game series of the year against Indiana State.
