Shepard Nearly No-Hits Braves as SIU Finishes off Bradley to Take Series

Friday, April 17

Peoria, IL

3 PM

Southern Illinois University

14-22, 5-5

Bradley

8-30, 4-9

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Southern Ill.	1	2	0	0	0	5	2	0	0	10	12	1
Bradley	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	5	1

Troy Shepard sets during Southern Illinois' 6-2 win over Bradley in which he threw eight no-hit innings Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Peoria, Ill.

Photo by: Jordan Kruse

Shepard Nearly No-Hits Braves as SIU Finishes off Bradley to Take Series

04/18/2026 | 10:20:00 | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Jordan Kruse, SIUSalukis.com

PEORIA, Ill. - After the Salukis closed out Friday's suspended contest, Troy Shepard nearly no-hit Bradley as the Salukis picked up two wins Saturday in Peoria.

The Salukis led 10-1 entering the eighth as Friday's suspended game resumed at 2 p.m. Saturday. Alec Ammerman delivered two shutout innings with four strikeouts to clinch the victory. Jack MacIntosh (W, 4-5) earned the win after throwing 2.1 shutout innings Friday.

Saturday's scheduled contest began at 3:40, and Kye Watson's second triple of the week got the scoring started in the top of the third, scoring Mason Schwalbach. A throwing error allowed Watson to score, and Henry Kufa to reach first.

Leading 2-0, Southern received a blow after Henry Kufa badly injured his right leg sliding into second on the ensuing play. The junior was removed from the game via ambulance and taken to a local Peoria hospital.

After a delay that spanned longer than 30 minutes, SIU took advantage of a Braves' error and a passed ball to lead 4-0 in the fifth.

With the game still in reach for Bradley, Troy Shepard delivered what ended up being one of the season's biggest performances on the mound, highlighted by the bottom of the fifth, where he struck out the side to give him ten strikeouts on the day, already reaching his season-high.

Shepard only surrendered walks and hit-by-pitches through the first eight innings, and after striking out his 12th batter to end the eighth, was just three outs away from accomplishing a feat no Saluki pitcher had done since 1953.

Before their starter could take the mound for his potentially historic final frame, Kristian Sprawling made sure he had even more breathing room, smoking an RBI double off the left-field wall, and eventually coming around to score on an RBI from Kaleb Hall.

Shepard now had six runs to work with as he took the mound with 107 pitches in the ninth. The Idaho native walked the first batter on seven pitches, and Hayden Miller's double down the left-field line ended the potential no-hit bid. Blake Kimball immediately relieved Shepard, who finished the day with 8.0 innings pitched, a Division I career-high 12 strikeouts, and just one hit allowed.

With runners on second and third, the Salukis opted to let two runs score in exchange for outs, as Kimball struck out the final batter to give SIU the series win.

Shepard (W, 2-3) tallied his second victory of the 2026 season on what ended up being an emotional day all around for Southern.

UP NEXT
The Salukis try for their first sweep of the season Sunday, April 19, at 1 p.m. against the Braves.

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