SPRINGFIELD, Mo. ? Bradley's pitching staff had trouble finding the strike zone and the Missouri State hitters made them pay when they did as the host Bears (10-10, 2-0 MVC) took the second game of the weekend Missouri Valley Conference baseball series by a 15-3 margin in seven innings Saturday afternoon at Hammons Field.

The three Bradley pitchers combined to walk 11 Missouri State hitters and hit two others in six innings.  Meanwhile, five of Missouri State's nine hits went for extra bases, four doubles and a home run.

Bradley starter Brad Altbach (1-2), who suffered a leg injury in Florida during his last outing Sunday versus Central Michigan, got off to a strong start Saturday by cruising through the first two innings.  Altbach did not allow a hit, gave up one walk and struck out three in those first two frames.

The junior right-hander ran into trouble in the third, however, when Ryun Turner singled to open the inning and McCormack followed with a walk.  After center fielder Aaron Conway fouled out on a failed sacrifice attempt, Altbach uncorked a wild pitch to advance the runners to second and third.  Second baseman Kevin Medrano followed with a 2-run double to give the Bears a 2-0 lead, but Altbach got the next two hitters to limit the damage.

Altbach was not as fortunate in the fourth, however, as the Bears erupted for five more runs to break the game open.  Catcher Dallas Hord hit a one-out, solo home run to start the scoring binge.  Altbach then hit the next batter, and after another foul out, walked two more to load the bases.  Medrano, who finished 3-for-4 with five runs batted in, delivered a 2-run single and third baseman Brayden Drake followed with a 2-run double for a 7-0 Missouri State lead.

Freshman left-hander Mike Derby relieved Altbach to start the fifth, but surrendered seven runs on five walks, a hit batter and two hits before giving way to freshman Phil Kaiser, who allowed the final run of Missouri State's 8-run inning.

Trailing 15-0, Bradley (5-10, 0-2 MVC) pushed three runs across in the sixth.  Senior first baseman Grant Escue started the sixth with his second double of the game and came home one batter later on senior center fielder Nick Mitidiero's first career home run.  After Adam Kimble grounded out, senior right fielder Colby Luttrell banged his first homer of the season to complete the game's scoring.

The Braves will try to salvage the final game of the league-opening series Sunday when the teams meet for a 1 p.m. contest at Hammons Field.