PEORIA, Ill. ? Seldom used outfielder Quinn Ewert, a defensive replacement in right field in the ninth inning, delivered an RBI infield single with two outs in the 11th inning and Ryan Court followed with a 3-run home run, lifting Illinois State (20-19, 10-10 MVC) to an 8-5 victory against Interstate 74 rival Bradley (15-28, 2-14 MVC) in the opening game of a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series Friday night at O'Brien Field.

Ewert had appeared in only four games entering Friday's contest and was just 1-for-4 on the season, but beat out a ground ball through the box that Braves second baseman Matt Fritz fielded behind the bag at second.   Redbird reliever Jim Sajewich (3-2) earned the win in relief of starter Ryan Camp by working the final 2.2 innings.  Bradley's third pitcher, freshman Jacob Booden (1-4) took the loss for the Braves.

Camp and Bradley starter Rob Scahill battled through an eight-inning pitching duel.  Camp allowed just two Bradley runs on six hits through eight innings, before running out of gas in the ninth.  Scahill allowed three runs, two earned, and struck out nine in 8.0 innings.  Scahill ended his home season with a 3-0 record and 0.86 earned run average in four starts totaling 31.1 innings.

Bradley appeared to catch a break in the 10th when Kevin Sullivan's smash to first took a bad hop off Evan Kohli's shoulder for an infield single and Jim Clayton followed with a single to right to put runners at the corners with one out.  After Fritz fouled a squeeze bunt attempt on the first pitch of the next at-bat, though, Sajewich battled back and caught both Fritz and Tim Scanlan looking to escape the jam.

The Redbirds carried the momentum into the top of the 11th as Salzenstein started the go-ahead rally with a one-out double to left centerfield.  Tyler McNeely popped up the next pitch, but Sullivan could not locate the ball and it fell harmlessly in front of home plate for a two-foot single.  Mike Stalowy grounded into a fielder's choice that left runners at the corners with two outs, setting the stage for Ewert and Court.

The Braves eventually brought the potential winning run to the plate with one out in the bottom of the 11th, which started with a leadoff walk by Tommy Fitzgerald and continued with a one-out single from Nick Mitidiero and walk to Adam Kimble.  Colby Luttrell plated Fitzgerald with a sacrifice fly and Sullivan beat out an infield single to again load the bases.  Clayton flew out to center field, however, to end the game.

After Bradley took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on doubles by Kimble and Sullivan, Illinois State loaded the bases with no outs to start the third.  Consecutive ground outs by Anthony Ruffolo and Ryan Court gave the Redbirds a 2-1 lead and ended Scahill's home scoreless streak at 16.0 innings.

The Braves came right back in the bottom of the third and forged a 2-2 tie when Scanlan led off with a single, advanced to third on a pair of bunts and scored on Mitidiero's two-out single up the middle.

The Redbirds greeted Scahill with a leadoff single in each of the first five innings.  In the fourth, Gabe DeMarco led off with a single to center and went to second on a pitch that drilled home plate umpire Tim Catton.  After advancing on a ground out, DeMarco put the Redbirds back in front, 3-2, when third baseman Scanlan threw wildly to first on a Corey Maines ground ball.

The Redbirds picked up their sixth leadoff hit of the night when Cole Marty, a mid-game defensive replacement in left field, singled to right off Bradley reliever Bryan Porter.  Marty went to second on a wild pitch and third on a Collin Salzenstein single to left and scored on a Tyler McNeely grounder to third for a 4-2 lead.

The Braves rallied in the ninth, chasing Camp when Fritz and Scanlan drew consecutive one-out walks.  Sajewich then uncorked a wild pitch to put both runners in scoring position for Bradley's top hitter, Fitzgerald, who delivered with a two-run single to right to forge the 4-4 tie.

The series will continue with a 7 p.m. game Saturday at O'Brien Field and will conclude with a 1 o'clock game Sunday afternoon.  As the final home game of the 2009 regular season, Bradley will honor the team's 11 seniors in a pregame ceremony Sunday.