Weather may have forced the Bradley baseball team to move its series against Southeast Missouri State to New Orleans, but the trip to the “Big Easy” did little to stop Bradley’s pitching from making baseball look easy.
The pitching staff led the Braves to two victories over the Redhawks last weekend, bringing Bradley’s record on the year to 7-2.
The Braves took the series opener 6-3 Friday night with junior Elliot Ashbeck got the win for Bradley. The right hander went six scoreless innings, giving up only two hits. His effort extended Bradley’s scoreless innings streak to 34 1/3 before SEMO scored in the next inning.
“Our pitching was darn good this weekend,” Dominguez said. “Elliot was Elliot. I mean, he’s going to be as good as anybody’s Friday night guy in the league, so that really set the tone for the entire weekend. That was a pretty good ball club we faced in SEMO, but overall I was pleased.”
The pitching faltered in the second game of the series, as SEMO plated runs early and often on their way to a 7-2 win. However, junior Brent Stong came out firing in the second game of the doubleheader and tossed his second straight shutout.
The southpaw tossed eight innings, yielding just four hits and a walk while fanning seven batters. His efforts on the mound netted him a Missouri Valley Conference pitcher of the week award, an accolade that did not go unnoticed by his coach.
“It’s all about confidence, and he’s starting to get his confidence back,” Dominguez said of Stong, who missed the entire regular season last year. “His first outing [this year] was rough. Now, he’s starting to just get back into a routine, and he’s been very dominant the last two outings.”
Stong and Ashbeck are leading a rotation that has been highly effective against opposing hitters. Since the team’s loss to Grand Canyon, Bradley pitching has allowed opposing teams to score in only four of a possible 54 innings.
“I think experience from some of the guys [is key],” Dominguez said. “I think the biggest reason has been our new pitching coach Larry Scully. He’s brought a presence and an attitude to our pitching staff that has really set the tone for the entire year, and hopefully, they can continue to build upon that.”
Although the pitching has been dazzling so far, the offense has the exact opposite, with the team is hitting .235 on the year. The Braves, however, have been able to find ways to win game in and game out.
“We’re getting a lot of timely hits right now,” Dominguez said. “We’re getting somebody on, moving him to second…we’re putting him in scoring position. It’s been somebody different every single game that’s been able to come through and just get that clutch hit to put us ahead.”
Dominguez said he believes the team will start to hit better as the season progresses, noting that individual or team statistics are not necessarily what matters.
“It’s all about winning, and I think they’re doing a pretty good job,” Dominguez said.
The Braves will travel to Nashville, Tennessee this weekend to take on Quinnipiac and Belmont.
