Baseball falls to Bradley, 11-6

Sunday, April 13

Carbondale, Ill.

1:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

18-15, 3-6

Bradley

16-15, 7-5

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Bradley	4	1	0	0	1	2	0	0	3	11	15	0
Southern Illinois	0	1	3	0	0	1	0	0	1	6	17	4

04/13/2008 | 12:00:00 | Baseball

Box Score

April 13, 2008

Box Score

By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Bradley University (16-15, 7-5) used a four-run first inning to fuel an 11-6 win over Southern Illinois University (18-15, 3-6) earlier today at Abe Martin Field. The Braves completed a three-game sweep of the Salukis.

BU swept SIU in Carbondale for the first time. The Braves also earned their first series sweep against the Salukis for the first time since 1999. BU won all four games against SIU in Peoria that year.

As if things couldn't get any worse for the Dawgs.

SIU starting righthander David Kington just didn't have it, and as a result, self-destructed in just two-thirds of an inning.

Kington allowed four runs on three hits, walked one and hit a batter, as all nine BU hitters came to the plate in the first inning.

Grant Escue drew a one-out walk and went to second when Dan Brewer reached on an error. Colby Luttrell knocked in both Escue and Brewer on a double to right center. Jim Clayton followed with a RBI-single. Clayton who went to third on an ensuing base knock by Rob Elliott, touched home on Tommy Fitzgerald's sacrifice fly, and just like that, it was 4-0 in favor of the Braves.

That was all the momentum BU needed as it never let up.

Back-to-back two-out doubles by Brewer and Luttrell extended BU's lead to 5-0 in the second, but SIU quickly pulled to within a run.

Tyler Bullock led off the second with his team-high fifth home run. An inning later, SIU used three hits to push across three more runs to narrow the gap to 5-4 in the third.

But, the Braves kept pouring it on. Elliott singled and scored with the help of two Saluki errors in the fifth.

In the sixth, Luttrell came up big again, knocking in two more runs on a single to right.

The Braves later buried the Salukis for good with three runs in the top of the ninth. Escue drove in Matt Fritz on a double to right. Brewer scored Nick Mitidiero on a single to center and Escue touched home when Luttrell grounded out to third to polish off the 11-6 win.

Brad Altbach (3-4) picked up his second win of the series after allowing five hits and one run in 3.1 innings. Altbach also struck out two and walked two.

Kori Jensen was credited with his team-high sixth save.

Kington fell to 1-2 on the year.

BU pounded out 15 hits, with five Braves chipping in multiple-hits. Luttrell, Clayton and Elliott led the way with three hits, while Mitidiero and Brewer followed with two hits apiece.

SIU finished with 17 hits on the day, 16 of which were singles. Scott Elmendorf, Dean Cademartori and Tyler Lairson paved the way with three hits. Bret Maugeri's 15-game hitting streak came to an end when he went 0-for-5.

Defensively, SIU had four errors, which led to three unearned runs.

On the mound, SIU used a total of seven pitchers. It appeared as though the Salukis couldn't march pitchers out fast enough to tame the Braves. Once BU got to SIU's bullpen in the first, Tyler Choate, Jimmy Cornell, Daniel Etienne, Daniel Wells, Ian Reinhart and Bryant George went the rest of the way.

Saluki relievers were knocked around for 12 hits and seven runs, six of which were earned.

SIU left a staggering 43 runners on base in three games against the Braves. Thirty-four of those came in the last two games. The Salukis nearly matched a NCAA single-game record when they left 21 runners on base against the Braves Saturday -- Arizona has the record with 23 against Chapman in 1979.

Meanwhile, the Braves also had their share of wildness.

BU pitchers walked 23 on the weekend, 19 of which came in the last two games of the series. The Braves walked a school record 14 on Saturday alone.

SIU, which is on a four-game losing streak, remains home to host SE Missouri State Tuesday. First pitch is at 3 p.m., CST.