After playing their first 20 games on the road, Bradley baseball (3-21, 0-6 MVC) had a four-game homestand at Dozer Park over the weekend and Tuesday night. The Braves experienced the same issues on their home field as they have for the majority of their road and neutral-site games.
Friday’s game against Southern Illinois (21-7, 5-1 MVC) looked promising when the Braves led 2-0 on junior Mason Breidenbach’s two-run double to right center field that scored junior Cole Smith and freshman Jackson Smith.
However, the Salukis found their offense in the next inning with five runs, and they never looked back.
Trailing 13-2 in the bottom of the fifth, the Braves scored nine more runs across the next three innings, but it wasn’t enough. Southern Illinois stacked 11 runs in the ninth inning and won 25-11.
Bradley’s top four hitters in the lineup combined for all 10 hits for the Braves, including Cole Smith’s five-for-five performance with two doubles and four RBIs. The Braves used six different pitchers, with none throwing for more than two innings.
“We just couldn’t throw strikes, put a couple free runners on, then [SIU] got a clutch hit,” head coach Elvis Dominguez said. “So sooner or later, we gotta figure this out.”
Mirrored results in double-header
Saturday’s schedule was shifted into a double-header due to rain in the forecast for the following Sunday. Once again, the Braves got on the board in the first inning via senior Bobby Atkinson’s two-run home run to right field. Atkinson finished three-for-four and batted in three runs.
But just like the night before, the Braves couldn’t stop the big-run innings by the Salukis. Southern Illinois scored four runs in the second inning and five additional runs in the seventh to win the game 13-4.
“You [have to] eliminate the free runners, whether it’s by walks, errors or hit batsmen, you have to eliminate [those],” Dominguez said about stopping the big innings. “Outs have to be outs.”
Freshman Josh Vaughn took the loss on the mound with 4.2 innings pitched as he allowed nine hits, seven earned runs, three walks and three strikeouts.
The second game of the double-header on Saturday featured the Salukis grabbing the first lead and never squandering it. Down 4-0 in the fourth inning, seniors Nick Hosie and Nick Fleckenstein each scored a run to cut the deficit.
Sophomore Isaac Sobieszczyk homered to left field in the sixth inning, but the Salukis tallied seven runs in the seventh to win by another 13-4 score, completing the three-game sweep.
Bradley’s starter, senior Travis Lutz, pitched 4.1 innings and gave up six hits, five earned runs, three walks and three strikeouts.
“Honestly, just throwing strikes, just being in the zone,” Lutz said about the team’s pitching. “[Tuesday] night we had a lot of walks, and this weekend I had a lot of walks. You pile those up with hits, and] it’s a merry-go-round around the bases. So just be in the zone more often and early and make them hit your pitch.”
Iowa walked away with a road win
On Tuesday night, the Braves had one more game against Iowa (18-9, 10-2 Big Ten) to finish the home stretch on a high note, but the Hawkeyes had other plans.
Junior Drew Politte earned the start and got two quick outs before the walks took him out of the game. Politte walked four batters to score one run and then junior Eli Lehrman entered relief duty.
Lehrman couldn’t locate the strike zone either and allowed three more walks, which led to four additional runs for Iowa. The Hawkeyes scored five runs in the game’s opening frame without recording a hit.
“[We] walked too many guys, put too many free runners on base,” Dominguez said. “I think we had 13 or 14 by the end of the night. The name of the game is you have to pitch to contact and minimize your pitch count. And if your starters can’t do that, then it taxes your bullpen, and that’s been our achilles heel.”
Bradley couldn’t match Iowa on offense, as the Braves totaled three hits for the entire game. Junior Timmy O’Brien had two of them with solo home runs in the second and fourth innings.
Iowa scored five runs in the fifth inning and closed out a 13-3 win over the Braves in just seven innings due to the 10-run rule.
“He’s [O’Brien] been consistent all the way through,” Dominguez said. “Timmy is a great example. I would love to see a double in the gap with runners in scoring position. I would love to see a home run with runners in scoring position. Solo home runs don’t win or lose your ball games.”
Right the ship
After another Missouri Valley Conference series loss, the Braves find themselves in a difficult situation. They’re last in the MVC standings, and only the top eight of the 10 teams play for the conference tournament at the end of the season.
“Time’s running out. I mean, we basically dug ourselves a hole in our conference,” Dominguez said about the team’s sense of urgency. “It’s now do or die going forward. It’s just going to take for someone, whether it’s on the mound or whether it’s in the box, a hitter, come up with a clutch hit at a clutch time and just nail it down.”
Bradley will have to wait another week for their first home win of the season. Due to the expected rainfall in Murray, Ky., the Braves are back on the road this weekend against Murray State in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
The three-game series begins on Saturday and ends on Monday, and the Braves are looking to snap an eight-game losing streak.
“What we can [do] is just showing up each day for practice, getting [in] the right headspace for going down there and competing the best we can, and hopefully taking two [wins] this weekend,” Lutz said.
