WINTER HAVEN, Fla. ? Senior designated hitter Adam Kimble put Bradley ahead for a good with a three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning and a quartet of Braves pitchers limited in-state rival Eastern Illinois to just one run on six hits, leading Bradley (5-8) to a 7-1 victory against the Panthers (10-5) Wednesday morning at Chain of Lakes Park. 

With Wednesday morning's win, Bradley improved to 41-15 (.732) against its in-state rivals since 2005, including a 24-5 (.828) record since the start of the 2007 campaign.  The Braves will get a chance to improve on those numbers next week when they open their 2009 home schedule with a Tuesday afternoon doubleheader against Northern Illinois at O'Brien Field.

Freshman right-hander Justin Ziegler was solid in his first career start, allowing just one unearned run on three hits in 4.1 innings.  Bradley's defense put Ziegler in trouble in the fifth, however, and senior Tyler Thornton relieved after the first Panthers reached on errors and EIU second baseman Jordan Tokarz brought home his team's only run with a sacrifice fly to forge a 1-1 tie.  Although Thornton (1-1) gave up a leadoff walk to put runners at first and second with one out, catcher Brett Hendricks threw out the lead runner trying to steal third and EIU first baseman Alex Gee flew out to end the threat.

The Braves broke back on top in the bottom of the fifth by playing small ball, then pulled away later in the fifth on the long ball.  Second baseman Matt Fritz greeted EIU reliever Scott Foley with a leadoff walk, stole second and reached third on Tommy Fitzgerald's sacrifice bunt.  Third baseman Rob Elliott followed with another bunt, which Foley fumbled, allowing Fritz to score the go-ahead run.  With Elliott at first, center fielder Nick Mitidiero put runners at the corners with a two-out single and Kimble broke the game open, 5-1, with his second home run of the season, a 3-run blast to left field.

Fritz turned a two-out walk into another run in the sixth by stealing second and third and scoring on a throwing error on the attempt to nab him at third.  Fritz's three steals in the game equaled the second-best single-game total in Bradley history, a total achieved on five other occasions and two shy of David Carr's school-record five steals in a game in 1990.  The Braves got one more insurance run in the eighth, courtesy of a Colby Luttrell leadoff single and Jordan Colvin one-out double.

Thornton earned the win by tossing 2.2 scoreless innings, striking out three and allowing only two hits.  Brandon Stevens and Bryan Porter each worked a scoreless inning to close out the game.

Due to scheduling conflicts with travel, Wednesday's second game against Hartford has been cancelled, leaving the Braves with a 2-2 record during their Spring Break trip to Florida.  Bradley will return to action Friday by opening Missouri Valley Conference play at league preseason favorite Missouri State.  The teams will play a 3-game series at Hammons Field:  Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 1 o'clock.