PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley has not struggled getting runners on base against Wichita State's vaunted pitching staff, but for the second game in a row the Braves struggled getting their runners home as the 10th-ranked Shockers (24-5, 5-0) earned a 3-1 Missouri Valley Conference baseball victory Saturday afternoon at O'Brien Field.

For the second straight game, Wichita State's light-hitting freshman shortstop Dusty Coleman delivered the game's big hit.  After delivering a 2-out, 2-run double in the seventh inning of Friday's 3-0 Wichita State win, Coleman lifted a 2-out, 2-run home run in the second inning.  Coleman, who came into the series with a .238 battering average, also scored Wichita State's third run Saturday and has accounted for five of his team's six runs through the first two games of the series.

Reigning Valley Pitcher of the Year Aaron Shafer and two Wichita State relievers limited the Braves to just three hits and overcame five walks and two hit batters by combining for a season-high 14 strikeouts.  Shafer improved to 5-2 by setting his career high with 12 strikeouts.  His performance overshadowed the effort of Bradley sophomore Collin Brennan (1-2), an honorable mention All-MVC peformer in 2006, who scattered eight hits in his 8.0 innings with six strikeouts.

After Coleman's blast in the top of the second, Bradley tried to rally in the home half of the frame by putting men on base for an 11th consecutive inning against the Shockers.  Justin Carr drew a leadoff walk and went to third when Ryan Eigsti followed with a sharp single up the middle, but Shafer battled back to strike out the bottom three hitters in Bradley's lineup, Colby Luttrell, Mike McMillan and Curtis Hornaday, to squash yet another Bradley rally.

Shafer finally ended Bradley's streak of consecutive innings with a base runner in the third by retiring the top three hitters in the order, Pat Ryerson on a strikeout, Paul Rice on a fly out and Dan Brewer on a ground out.  Bradley started a new streak in the fourth, however, and this time the Braves cashed in with a run to pull within 2-1.  After Carr was hit by a pitch with one out, Luttrell lined a shot to straight away centerfield, just over the glove of Blake Hurlbutt for a run-scoring double.  Luttrell committed a bit of a base-running blunder, however, when he was tagged out on a Mike McMillan grounder to third for the third out of the inning.

The Shockers got the run right back in the fifth with some good execution.  Coleman led off the inning with a single up the middle and went to second on Hurlbutt's sacrifice bunt.  After Andy Dirks flew out, Derek Schermerhorn laced a run-scoring single to right centerfield to plate Coleman with the game's final run.

Bradley drew leadoff walks by Hornaday in the fifth and Curry in the sixth, but in keeping with the weekend trend, Shafer retired the next three hitters in order in both innings to maintain the 2-run separation.  In the sixth Carr, Eigsti and Luttrell all went down swinging.

The Braves broke the pattern only slightly in the seventh as Hornaday drew a one-out walk, but after he stole second when Ryerson struck out on a curve ball in the dirt for the second out, Rice went down swining to end the inning.  In the eighth, Brewer drew a leadoff walk from WSU reliever Anthony Capra then went to second on a passed ball.  Curry struck out swinging, pinch-hitter Bryan Porter fouled out to first and Eigsti grounded out to shortstop to end yet another threat.

In fitting fashion, McMillan picked up Bradley's third hit with a one-out single into right centerfield in the ninth, giving the Braves a base runner for the 17th time in the first 18 innings of the series.  After Capra got pinch-hitter Adam Kimble on a popout, the Shockers turned to closer Noah Krol to close out the game for the second straight night.  Bradley made things interesting when pinch-hitter Peter Malinowski greeted Krol with a sharp single into left field to put runners at first and second with two outs, but Rice grounded out softly to second to end the game, dropping the Braves to 0-for-16 with runners in scoring position in the series.

Curry finished the day 0-for-3, ending his career-best 14-game hitting streak, but the senior second baseman did draw a walk in Saturday's game and has reached base safely in 15 consecutive outings.  Brewer was hitless in two at-bats, but he was hit by a pitch and walked Saturday, safely reaching base in 20 of Bradley's 21 games this season.

The series will conclude with Sunday's 1 p.m. contest at O'Brien Field.