EVANSVILLE, Ind. - After falling in a big hole early, the University of Evansville baseball team staged both an early and a late rally, but it wasn't enough, as the Purple Aces fell to Bradley, 9-4, in their Missouri Valley Conference series opener with the Braves Friday night at Braun Stadium.

Aces sophomore starting pitcher Adam Lukas (1-2) pitched a dominating opening frame, picking up a pair of strikeouts in a 1-2-3 inning. However, the second inning was another matter, as Bradly went on a tear, as a pair of singles, followed by a walk, loaded up the bases with one out. Then, Eli Rawlinson took Lukas back up the middle, tallying both Brendan Daugherty and Derek Bangert, putting the Braves up 2-0. Next, Keaton Rice sent a sharp shot to short, bringing in Dan Bolt, pushing the Bradley advantage to 3-0. Luke Shadid followed that up with an RBI single through the right side of the infield, putting the Braves up 4-0. After issuing a free pass to Luke Mangieri to load up the bases, Lukas hit Bradley's Andrew Ivelia, sending Rice home, making it 5-0 Braves, and ending Lukas' night. Sophomore right hander David Ellis came in in relief and put out the fire with a strikeout and a fly out to left, ending the inning.

After struggling to break through in the opening frames against Bradley starting pitcher Cole Cook (4-3), UE would break through in the third. Singles by senior third baseman Stewart Nelson and junior second baseman Sam Troyer put runners on first and second with two outs. Then, senior first baseman Dalton Horstmeier launched a double to deep right-center, plating both Nelson and Troyer, cutting the deficit to 5-2.

That's the way it would stay until the fifth inning, when Ellis would get in trouble, as a hit batter, a walk, then a sacrifice bunt put a pair in scoring position. Then, Andy Shadid lifted a lace to left, plating a pair, driving the Bradley lead back up to 7-2. Eli Rawlinson would follow that up with a run-scoring single to left, driving the Braves lead to 8-2.

Ellis would continue to struggle in the fifth, loading up the bases on a walk and a hit batter. The Aces would turn to senior Hunter Porterfield to halt the Braves uprising, and he did with a pop-up.

Down, six runs in the sixth, Evansville would attempt another comeback. With two on and two outs, Craig Shepherd came-up clutch with a bases-clearing single, cutting the Bradley lead back down to 8-4.

However, the Aces could draw no closer, and the Braves would tack on one more tally late wo win 9-4.

The loss drops Evansville to 6-21, while Bradley improves to 18-9. Game two of this series is Saturday afternoon back at Braun Stadium in Evansville. Due to weather concerns, first pitch has been moved up to 1 p.m. The game is available online on ESPN Plus.

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