EVANSVILLE, Ind.—Down to its final strike on Friday night, the visiting Bradley University Braves were able to rally for two runs in the top of the ninth inning to capture a 7-6 victory at UE’s Charles H. Braun Stadium and put an end to the University of Evansville baseball team’s season-high six-game winning streak.

 

Third baseman Rob Elliott was able to deliver an RBI single to center field with two strikes to score pinch-runner Christian Segar from second base with the game-tying run in the ninth inning. Junior outfielder Brian Martin then came through with a perfectly-placed RBI double down the right field line to give the Braves a 7-6 lead. Bradley reliever Patrick Cooper (2-3) then worked a perfect bottom of the ninth inning to cap the victory and give the Braves the series opener.

 

“This is obviously a tough loss to swallow because we had battled so hard to get back into the lead late, but this series will be won or lost tomorrow on how our guys are able to respond,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll. “We have a lot of guys who are competitors and who have a lot of character, and we’ll see how they respond. This is a tough loss, but we can still win the series this weekend.”

 

Evansville struck first on Friday night, as junior outfielder Greg Wallace rode a friendly south breeze out to left field for his sixth home run of the year, a solo shot in the bottom of the first inning, to give UE a 1-0 lead. Bradley would answer back with two runs of its own in the second inning on an RBI triple by first baseman Mike McMillan and an RBI ground out by outfielder Bob Schuch to grab a 2-1 lead. UE would respond though to tie the game at 2-2 in the third inning on an RBI fielder’s choice ground ball by junior infielder Cody Fick.

 

The game would remain tied at 2-2 until the top of the fifth inning, when Bradley struck for three runs off of UE starter Keegan Dennis, highlighted by a two-run home run to left field by Elliott. At that time, Bradley’s Joe Bircher was rolling on the mound, as he retired 12-straight Evansville batters at one point midway through the contest, until a defensive escape ignited the Purple Aces in the seventh inning.

 

Schuch led off Bradley’s top of the seventh inning with an opposite field triple, but UE reliever Zach Taylor stranded him at third by striking out shortstop Jason Leblebijian, getting a ground out by lead-off man Matt Fritz, and retiring Martin on an infield ground out. That would bring UE to life, as the Purple Aces quickly struck for four runs in the bottom half of the inning thanks to an RBI double by senior Tom Heithoff, a game-tying two-run home run by junior designated hitter Ryan Oesterle, and an RBI double by Wallace to take a 6-5 lead.

 

UE then escaped an identical situation in the eighth inning, as reliever Corey Davisson worked out of the lead-off runner at third, no one out jam to preserve the one-run lead. UE’s escape magic would run out in the ninth though.

 

Elliott led Bradley offensively by going 2-for-3 with his first home run of the year and three RBI. Wallace and Oesterle both had two hits, a home run and two RBI to pace the Purple Aces’ attack.

 

With the victory, Bradley improves to 12-21 overall and 5-8 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Evansville, meanwhile, sees its six-game winning streak snapped, as the Purple Aces fall to 21-17 overall and 3-4 in the Valley. The two teams will continue the series on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. at Braun Stadium in a game that can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.