CHAMPAIGN, Ill. ? Bradley sophomore Tyler Thornton (3-0) tossed eight strong innings to remain unbeaten and the Braves (15-12) supported their starter with 14 hits en route to a 6-4, come-from-behind win Tuesday night at Illinois (11-13).  Bradley extended its winning streak against the Illini to five games, its longest winning streak in the history of the series between the in-state rivals.

Junior Chris Wright picked up his second save in as many games, working around a hit in the ninth to close the door on the Illini.  Six Bradley hitters turned in multiple-hit performances for the Braves, led by Mike McMillan's 3-for-5 effort, as the Bradley outhit the Illinois 14-10.

After Bradley missed out on a scoring opportunity in the third inning, wasting a leadoff double by Justin Carr, the Illini scored the game's first run in the home half of the third thanks to consecutive 2-out singles by Brandon Wikoff, Lars Davis and Daniel Webb.

Illinois pushed its lead to 4-0 in the fourth inning, plating the game's second run when Nick Stockwell followed Ryan Hastings' one-out double with an RBI single.  After loading the bases with a walk and another single, the other two runs came home when Bradley catcher Ryan Eigsti threw wildly on a pick-off attempt.  Thornton got out of the jam by getting Wikoff to ground out and Davis to fly out.

Bradley began its rally with three runs in the sixth inning, which began with Paul Rice's double to right centerfield.  After Brewer moved Rice to third with a flyout, Ryan Curry followed with his Missouri Valley Conference leading 16th double of the season to put the Braves on the board and chase Illini starter Billy Barrett.  Reliever Ben Resser got Eigsti to ground out, but Colby Luttrell followed with a single to plate Curry.  McMillan followed with an infield single and Carr drew a walk to load the bases.  The Braves then closed to within 4-3 in odd fashion as Brad Jones reached on a catcher's interference call to plate the third run of the inning.

The Braves put together another 3-run frame in the top of the seventh to take the lead.  Rice again started the inning with a double, moving into second in The Valley with his 15th double, but he was promptly thrown out trying to steal third.  Brewer and Curry followed with singles to chase Resser (0-2).  Eisti greeted Brian Long with a single to right field to load the bases and Luttrell followed with a fourth consecutive single to knot the score at 4-4.  McMillan made it five straight singles, driving home Curry and Eigsti with a base hit through the left side of the infield for the 6-4 advantage.

After allowing the four runs on seven hits in the first four innings, Thornton settled in and kept the Illini off the board by allowing only two more hits in his last four innings.  Both of those hits came in succession to lead off the bottom of the sixth, but Thornton needed only six more pitches to get the three outs on a pop foul and two fly balls.

Wikoff, a product of Limestone High School, rapped out a one-out single in the ninth for his third hit of the night, but Wright retired Wright and Davis on fly balls to end the game.

Bradley is scheduled to return to action Wednesday night when the Braves host the state's other Big Ten Conference member, Northwestern, in a 7 o'clock contest at O'Brien Field.  Admission is free to all of Bradley's midweek games at O'Brien Field.