The Bradley (4-6) baseball team has yet to play a game at Dozer Park this season in Peoria, but that didn’t stop it from taking a three-game road sweep from Tennessee Tech this past weekend.
There was a significant improvement on the mound, surrendering only 10 walks in the series while striking out 29. In addition, the Braves’ offense saw an outburst that had been missing this season, outscoring the Golden Eagles 33-10 in the series.
Bradley set the tone in the first game of a Saturday doubleheader. Junior Brooks Gosswein threw 7.2 innings in a 6-3 game one win, giving up the three runs in a second inning rally from Tennessee Tech.
In the nightcap, the offense took over. The Braves used a seven-run third inning to pull away to an 11-6 victory.
On Sunday, junior pitcher Matt Hamilton had the best outing of his Bradley career, giving up just one run in six innings en route to a Bradley 16-1 pounding to close the series. Hamilton picked up the win, his first in a Bradley uniform.
“The guys on the mound really competed and gave us a chance,” head coach Elvis Dominguez said.
That competitiveness allowed the Braves to lower their collective earned run average from 8.63 to 7.00. The BU staff only allowed nine earned runs in the series.
Senior left fielder Dan Bolt led the offense with four home runs and eight runs batted in over three games. Bolt pushed his season total to seven homers and is currently tied for second most in the nation.
Bolt’s flaming hot start has earned him back-to-back MVC player of the week honors. Prior to the last two weeks, he had received the award just once in three seasons. Additionally, Bolt was named to the Collegiate Baseball National players of the week list.
“He’s a workaholic,” Dominguez said. “If it were up to him he’d hit every day. He works hard on his craft and he’s as prepared as any player.”
The power numbers are not new to Bolt. He hit 11 dingers last year and had a slugging percentage of .595.
In addition to Bolt’s offensive outpour, fellow senior shortstop Luke Shadid drove in his 100th career RBI, becoming the 33rd Brave in program history to do so.
“I didn’t really know that was something I accomplished,” Shadid said. “But knowing that now, it’s humbling. I’ve had a solid career here and I just keep looking to make solid strides.”
That’s not the only record book ranking that Shadid is climbing. He currently sits seventh in program history in hit by pitches. He was plunked for the 30th time in his career this weekend, twice in the series. Eight more this season moves him into sole possession of third place all time on the Hilltop.
As the leadoff man, it’s Shadid’s responsibility to start the rally and get on base any way possible. However, his role is a little more complicated than that.
“My job is to see how many pitches the pitcher has,” Shadid said. “I try and work the counts as best as possible to try and see as many pitches as I can go back to the dugout and give my teammates a scouting report on what he’s throwing and what the ball’s doing.”
Shadid’s scouting reports will be extremely valuable during their spring break trip which pits the Braves against Mercer, Dartmouth and North Florida. There may be two games added to the schedule.
The team was originally scheduled to play at SEC member Kentucky starting today, but the series has been canceled so that the team can attend former pitcher Mitch Janssen’s memorial services.
“If we can get the same kind of effort on the mound, it should be a very, very good [] for us,” Dominguez said.
The Braves look to push their record to the plus side of .500 for the first time this season beginning March 13.
