Box Score EVANSVILLE, Ind. ? One night after going 6-for-6 with three doubles and a walk-off home run, Evansville designated hitter Pat Tumilty drove in four more runs Friday night, leading the Purple Aces (35-19, 15-8) to an 11-4 Missouri Valley Conference baseball victory versus visiting Bradley (24-28, 11-11) Friday night at Braun Stadium.
With the win, Evansville moved one-half game ahead of idle Wichita State in the league standings and maintained its half-game lead over Missouri State as the Purple Aces try to clinch their first-ever Valley baseball title.
After Evansville jumped ahead, 2-0, in the third inning, Bradley came right back to pull even in the top of the fourth, thanks to Dan Brewer's two-run homer.
The blast by Brewer, his fourth of the year, gave the Braves only brief hope of evening the final Valley series of the season. Evansville scored two in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead for good, then broke the game open with three in the fifth and four in the sixth. Tumilty's grand slam home run in the sixth off Bradley reliever Tyler Thornton capped the Evansville surge.
The Braves will try to salvage the final game of the three-game series Saturday in a 1 p.m. contest at Braun Stadium. Following Saturday's game, both teams will head to Wichita, Kan., for the 2006 ConAgra Foods MVC Tournament, which will be played May 24-27 at Wichita State's Eck Stadium.
