Despite a doubleheader and a postponed game, the Bradley baseball team maneuvered past South Dakota State and won all three games in last weekend’s series. The Braves took on the Jackrabbits in Edwardsville after heavy rains cancelled the teams’ original trip in Texas.
Bradley started the first game of the series with a stagnant offense, unable to generate early scoring. South Dakota scored first in the top of the fourth and hit three batters in consecutive plays in the top of the fifth to extend the lead 4-0. Head coach Elvis Dominguez said the team kept their focus through the deficit.
“We fell behind early. [The team] is really resilient,” Dominguez said. “We seem to not panic at all. We seem to go about our business.”
Sophomore Luke Shadid initiated the Braves’ scoring with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth. In the sixth inning, Bradley scored four runs to take the lead 6-4. After stealing second and third base respectively, senior Andrew Ivelia and junior Luke Mangieri scored off senior Derek Bangert’s single to extend the lead 8-4. The Braves went on to win 8-6.
The Braves had a quick break before starting the second game of Friday’s doubleheader. SDSU once again started the game off scoring first with a two-run home run in the second inning. Both teams were unable to score for five innings until Bradley ran in three batters over the course of the seventh inning to take the lead.
Junior pitcher Brian Schimmer entered the game in the eighth inning and struck out five batters to seal Bradley’s 4-2 win. Ivelia said relief pitching helped the Braves win.
“[The bullpen was] able to come into every game and shut down the opposing team, giving our offense the opportunity to pull away and take the game over,” Andrew Ivelia said.
Dominguez described the pitching of Schimmer as “electric,” but he wanted to focus more on the Braves’ ability to score early in the game. Bradley only scored after the fourth inning in both of Friday’s wins. They have won four games this season despite the other team scoring first.
“We talked about [scoring early] on Saturday, and they did the opposite on Sunday,” Dominguez said. “I think it’s a matter of them understanding that we can’t sit back and allow the game to get out of hand. Sometimes you won’t be able to have that luxury of coming back.”
In the final game on Sunday, the Braves scored quickly in the second inning with bases loaded when freshman Keaton Rice hit in two batters off a single up the middle. Rice scored in the bottom of the fifth off Ivelia’s double to left field to extend the lead 3-1.
Andy Shadid sealed the series by blasting a solo home run in the sixth and running in sophomore Brendan Dougherty in the eighth inning off a single to left field. The Braves won 5-1.
According to Schimmer, even with the momentum of winning the series the team looks to stay focused on future matchups.
“We were very happy to have completed a sweep in only the second week of the season, Schimmer said. “We enjoyed that feeling the rest of the bus ride back, but we know that it has very little effect on our season and that we still have to prepare for each weekend at a time.”
The Braves look ahead to this weekend’s road series against Belmont, a team that is a predicted contender for the Ohio Valley Conference title.
“[Belmont is] very well coached,” Dominguez said. “It’ll be a definite challenge for us if we don’t play up to our capabilities.”
Bradley, now 5-1, looks to extend its five-game winning streak against Belmont today at 4 p.m., and tomorrow and Sunday starting at 1 p.m.
