Bradley baseball (2-10) was unable to end its non-conference skid last weekend, as the Marshall Thundering Herd (10-7) swept the Braves. Bradley led in game one via a RBI single from senior infielder Bobby Atkinson. The pitching held the lead for the first part of the game, and the game was tightly contested until a four-run sixth inning broke the game open for the Herd.
Senior right-handed pitcher Travis Lutz (1-2) took the loss for the Braves after tossing five innings, giving up four runs, striking out three and walking three.
A sacrifice fly from senior catcher Nick Hosie in the eighth inning plated another run for Bradley, but it wasn’t enough. Junior left-handed pitcher Eli Lehrman was a bright spot on the mound for the Braves, only allowing one walk and no hits in 2 1/3 innings of scoreless ball. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough as the final score was 6-2.
The bats warmed quickly to start the second game with RBI’s from Atkinson, freshman infielder CJ Trask and junior infielder Timmy O’Brien. Trask hit a solo home run in the third inning to extend the lead to 5-1. However, Marshall kept responding, scoring in four of the final five innings, finishing with 10 total runs en route to an 11-6 win.
The series finale played out very similar to the opener. A first inning triple from Atkinson scored junior infielder Beau Durbin to give the Braves the lead. After the Thundering Herd had evened it up in the bottom of the frame, senior outfielder Mitch Ball singled to left field, scoring freshman infielder Jackson Smith and giving Bradley a 2-1 lead. That lead was relinquished for good after a three-run home run in the bottom of the third. A couple more scattered runs late led to a 7-2 final score.
Bradley will be back in action Friday, on the road against Florida Atlantic University, hoping to get back into the win column.
