PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley first baseman Grant Escue went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a home run and designated hitter Jim Clayton added a 3-run blast, leading the Braves (11-12) to a 7-4 non-conference baseball win versus Quincy (10-15) Tuesday afternoon at O'Brien Field.

Senior right-hander Eitan Barbalat scattered six hits in 5.2 innings with five strikeouts to improve to 2-1 on the season, while Quincy starter Jordan Backes (2-3) was hung with the loss after allowing six runs on eight hits in 5.0 innings.

Quincy grabbed a 3-0 lead in the top of the third after Barbalat loaded the bases on a hit, a walk and a hit batter.  Taking advantage of the situation, Kyle Weible blooped a 2-run single down the left field line and Andrew Siemer followed with an RBI single into the left centerfield gap.

Bradley came back with a run in the bottom of the third, but ran themselves out of a potential bigger inning.  Escue drove home Matt Fritz with his second double of the game, but he was tagged out a third when he tried to advance on a Dan Brewer ground ball into the hole at shortstop.

Escue made up for the base-running gaffe in the fifth by hitting his first collegiate home run, a 2-run shot into the right field party deck to pull Bradley even, 3-3.  Brewer followed with a double to straight away centerfield, and after Colby Luttrell walked, Clayton launched his second homer of the year onto Adams Street for a 6-3 Bradley lead.

Barbalat retired eight in a row before running out of gas with two outs in the sixth.  After getting the first two hitters of the inning, Barbalat surrendered a single through the box to Siemer, then three straight walks to allow the Hawks to pull within 6-4.  Senior Jon Goebel relieved with the bases loaded and two outs and struck out Chris Scoggins to end the threat.

The Braves got the run back in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to a well-executed squeeze bunt by Matt Fritz.  Tommy Fitzgerald opened the inning with a single up the middle.  With one out, Fitzgerald stole second and advanced to third when the throw by Quincy catcher Justin Dunning sailed into the outfield.  With Fitzgerald sprinting home, the first pitch to Fritz was above his head, but the Bradley second baseman managed to elevate his bat high enough to drop a bunt down the third base line, building the lead back up to 7-4.

Goebel retired the first nine batters he faced until giving up a bloop single with two outs in the ninth, but Luttrell raced down a Kory Coe line drive down the right fieldline to end the game.  Goebel struck out four in 3.1 innings to earn his first save of the season.

Bradley will continue its season-long nine-game homestand Wednesday with a 4 p.m. game versus Illinios-Chicago at O'Brien Field.  The Braves will host Missouri Valley Conference rival Creighton in a three-game set this weekend and will close out the homestand next Tuesday with its annual game versus Illinois.