Winners of three of their last five games, Bradley baseball (9-15, 3-3 MVC) hoped to keep the positive train going in Valparaiso over the weekend.
The three Missouri Valley matchups resulted in mixed outcomes for the Braves. After winning the first game against Valpo, Bradley dropped the next two and ultimately, the series.
Braves outlast Beacons in game one
Keeping that positivity going in their first game against the Beacons, the Braves’ secured the victory with a 6-4 win.
Sophomore Noah Edders had the start on the mound for the Braves, as the right-hander threw an exceptional six innings of three-run baseball. Only allowing four hits, Edders also fanned seven Beacons on the day.
The sophomore wanted to put the Braves in the best position to succeed.
“I thought I gave us a chance to do good,” Edders said. “I was just really happy because you always want to win that first game and I was just happy that I could do that for the team.”
As for the offense, it was cooking from the start. Both teams had a combined seven runs in the first inning.
Bradley had four, as senior Logan Delgado doubled down the right field line to score two while junior Timmy O’Brien and senior Jackson Chatterton each hit RBI sacrifice flies to round out the inning with a 4-3 lead.
“We were able to just put a lot of things together that top of the first,” head coach Elvis Dominguez said. “Then on the bottom of the first they just came out and answered, but we were able to hold them and didn’t break.”
The Braves got one more run thanks to an error by the Beacons shortstop in the second, padding Bradley’s lead to 5-3.
The scoring came to a halt until the ninth inning, when Delgado once again came through and singled to the right side, earning an RBI and adding insurance to the 6-3 Bradley lead.
Valpo gave Bradley a scare in the bottom half of the inning when they hit a solo home run to left field. Junior Anthony Potthoff came through to earn his second save of the season and give the Braves the opening win of the series.
“It was a big win,” senior Beau Durbin said. “Whenever you can win on a Friday, that sets you up for the rest of the series.”
Strong endgame puts Beacons on top
A six-run bottom of the eighth inning propelled Valpo over Bradley 9-2 in the second game.
Durbin went 3-for-4 with a double. It was his second straight game finishing with that mark and his plan was to attack early.
“This series I just tried to do damage early in the count,” Durbin said. “At the beginning of the season, I was struggling a little bit because I felt like I was getting myself in too deep of counts. … So this series and last series against ISU I tried to be more aggressive early in the count and attack pitches in the zone.”
Junior Travis Lutz got the start for the Braves in game two and Dominguez praised the pitcher’s arm. The right-hander finished his day with six innings of one-run baseball, allowing eight hits and striking out three Beacons.
“[It was] outstanding,” Dominguez said. “To hold that team down to one run, I thought he was outstanding.”
The game was deadlocked at zero until the fifth inning when the Beacons struck first blood with a home run to right field. The Braves answered with their own long ball from junior Ryan Taylor to knot up the game at one at the end of six.
In the seventh, Chatterton doubled to right field and knocked in junior Michael Mylott to give Bradley their first lead of the game at 2-1.
The Beacons scored eight unanswered runs, including a six-run eighth inning, to win the game.
“Our bullpen just didn’t hold the lead,” Dominguez said. “We just imploded.”
Beacons take rubber match
The Braves came into Sunday’s matchup against the Beacons wanting to leave Valparaiso with the series win, but it was to no avail. Bradley dropped the final game of the series 2-13.
Freshman Anthony Edge took the mound to start. The right-hander is used to the reliever role, but with injuries to the Braves’ pitching staff, Dominguez was forced to run him out as a starter.
Edge did what he could on the mound. The freshman’s line was four runs off of three hits and two walks. He threw two and a thirds innings.
“He’s been great for us all year,” Dominguez said. “His performances all year have been great, [but] that outing right there is not indicative of what he is and what he has done for us.”
Bradley started fighting back in the second inning.
Junior Nick Hosie hit an RBI sacrifice fly to right field to score O’Brien. That was followed by senior Ryan Vogel’s single to center field that scored junior Cole Luckey to give Bradley a 2-0 lead.
That was the last offensive output for the Braves in the game.
For the proceeding innings, Valpo outscored Bradley 13-0, including a four-spot in the third inning and a seven-spot in the fourth.
The Bradley offense couldn’t catch fire again and dropped the rubber match against Valparaiso.
“We just didn’t have it there,” Durbin said. “We put up two [runs] and they answer right back. The rest of the game we just couldn’t string together any hits.”
Pending Mother Nature, Bradley will be hosting the Missouri State Bears for their home opener on Friday. The Braves were supposed to open Dozer Park against Iowa last Tuesday and Western Illinois last Wednesday, but both games were rained out.
The first pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m.
“I’m very excited,” Dominguez said. “We were supposed to be home here for a little bit but Mother Nature is always undefeated.”
“A great program, great tradition,” Dominguez said of Missouri State. “They got swept this past weekend by Illinois State at home so I know they’re coming in loaded. They can’t afford to have another bad week so I think we’ll have our hands full, but hopefully our guys will be able to respond and we will be able to come out on top.”
