Box Score Carbondale, Ill. ? The Bradley bats had battled the visitors back into the game after a first-inning SIU home run, but six unearned runs in the Saluki seventh was too much to overcome as the Braves fell, 10-5, on Saturday afternoon in Missouri Valley Conference baseball action.
The Salukis jumped ahead early when, after a pair of singles, left fielder Dean Cademartori delivered his third home run of the season to stake the hosts to a 3-0 lead after one.
The Braves started to scratch their way back into the game in the top half of the second inning as freshman Dan Brewer (Brookfield, Ill./Lyons Township) smacked the first of two doubles to left field and scored on a Jason Newburger (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills) RBI single.
Sophomore catcher Ryan Eigsti (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) would trim the lead to 3-2 in the second with his 11th run batted in of the year when he knocked in Brad Jones (Potomac, Md./Landon School) with an single up the middle.
Southern would tack on another run in the third to take a 4-2 lead on Bradley starter Collin Walker (Channahon, Ill./Minooka) before the Braves would pull to within a run in the top of the fifth on junior Ryan Curry's (Downers Grove, Ill./South) double to left that scored Jones from second.
Trouble hit in the SIU seventh when leadoff man Kevin Koski's groundball was misplayed by Newburger at first. Southern sacrificed Koski to second and the Braves countered with an intentional pass to No. 3 hitter Grant Gerrard. Cleanup man Erik Alvarez made Bradley move back-fire with a one-out double down the left field line to plate the first of six unearned runs in the inning.
An error at short by Curry on Cademartori's groundball allowed Gerrard to score the second run of the inning and concluded Walker's (0-2) outing for the Braves.
Bradley reliever Rob Scahill (Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook) uncorked a wild pitch to the first hitter he saw for run number three and a Dan Brewer throwing error on a groundball to second allowed three more to cross the plate unearned.
Brewer's second double and Newburger's second RBI single pulled the first of two back for the Braves in the eighth of SIU reliever Kyle Catto. Brad Jones would account for the second run scoring single, plating Newburger before Danny Wells caught pinch hitter Tony DiMonte (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) looking to end the Bradley threat.
The loss drops the Braves to 10-12 on the season, 3-2 in Valley play.
