“Laissez les bons temps rouler” is a Cajun French phrase often heard in New Orleans meaning “let the good times roll.” After a weekend series at the New Orleans Privateers, however, it was the Bradley baseball squad letting the good times roll, emerging victorious in two out of three games.
“If you go into April with this mindset that we’re rolling a little bit, I think we’re in really good shape in one of the toughest conferences in the country,” Braves head coach Elvis Dominguez said.
The Braves are still looking to fine-tune their play, but the scoreboard displayed otherwise against New Orleans last weekend. Highlighted by strong performances out of the bullpen, Bradley stayed resilient after a 5-0 defeat in the opening contest.
Facing a similar 5-0 deficit after the second inning of the second game, the Braves rallied for six runs of their own in the 7th inning en route to a 9-5 victory.
New Orleans capitalized on three hit batters, a walk and a throwing error to take a 5-0 lead early with only one tally in the hit column. Bradley responded by calling redshirt senior Jed Moscot to the mound, who stymied the Privateers for the next 5 2/3 innings. Moscot gave up only three hits while striking out four and picked up the win on the mound.
“When I came in, I was just thinking about keeping the score right there and telling myself it’s a 0-0 ballgame,” Moscot said. “That’s what everyone thinks. We knew we could get those runs back.”
The Braves did indeed, as Connor O’Brien hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly and Keaton Rice brought another run home on a fielder’s choice to close the deficit to 5-3.
Freshman T.J. Manteufel’s bases-clearing double was the deciding factor, giving Bradley a 6-5 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Eli Rawlinson added insurance with a two-run homer in the eighth inning.
“You always got a chance,” Dominguez said. “Not until that last out is made in this game are you ever out of it. Once we finally got a break the floodgates opened in a sense.”
Sunday’s rubber match saw Bradley jump out to a three-run lead after two innings thanks to an RBI single by Dan Bolt and a wild pitch that scored O’Brien. New Orleans clawed back to tie the game after the fifth inning, but it was Matt Hamilton’s turn to shine out of the ‘pen. The junior twirled three shutout innings while only allowing one baserunner.
“You can ask any coach in the country and they’ll tell you you’re only as good as your bullpen,” Dominguez said. “With a good bullpen, it makes my job easier and it makes the decision-making process easier to manage.”
An RBI from O’Brien in the seventh inning and a two-run double by Carl Valk in the ninth gave the Braves all they needed. Relief pitcher Theron Denlinger shut the door on the weekend, surviving multiple scares from New Orleans in the final frame to earn the save.
The Braves bullpen combined to pitch 16.2 innings over the weekend, only allowing three earned runs while they were on the mound. Moscot, younger brother of former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Jon Moscot, expressed that they have a special group ready to steady the Braves when any fires on the basepaths arise.
“This staff is probably the best staff I’ve been a part of because once you take the mound, everyone in the dugout and the bullpen has your back,” Moscot said.
Bradley now stands at 3-3 on the season heading into facing their penultimate non-conference opponent Alabama State for a three-game series starting today. In a Missouri Valley Conference that will remain among the nation’s best in 2021, Moscot and Dominguez believe the Braves’ non-conference schedule will adequately prepare them.
“The games that we’ve lost, we’ve beaten ourselves either by walks or errors, but those are things that are going to happen early on,” Dominguez said.
“We’re right where we need to be, honestly. I was really happy to see our younger guys step up and just everyone having fun while they’re doing it,” added Moscot.
The Braves will travel to Montgomery, Alabama to face the Hornets starting at 6 p.m. tonight.
