CLARKSVILLE, TN - Freshman designated hitter Jean-Francois Garon was 2-for-4 with a triple and drove home what proved to be the deciding run with an eighth-inning sacrifice fly, helping Bradley to a 9-7 win at Austin Peay Sunday afternoon at Raymond C. Hand Park.

The Braves (1-2) salvaged the final game of the weekend series by jumping out to a big early lead, then plating a couple of necessary insurance runs in their final two at-bats. Making his second pitching appearance of the weekend after missing the entire 2015 season, junior RHP Eric Scheuermann (W, 1-0) earned the win in relief and sophomore RHP Allan Beer earned his second career save by getting the final eight outs.

Bradley scored seven times in the third inning against Austin Peay starting pitcher Zach Neff (L, 0-1), but the inning proved costly for the Braves. Star 3B Spencer Gaa opened the frame by beating out an infield single, but he pulled up with an apparent hamstring injury going to third base on Tyler Leffler's single to right field. Neff then threw 12 consecutive balls, concluding with bases loaded walks to Andy Shadid and Evan Gruener to start the scoring.

Zach Fairchild followed with a 2-run double down the left field line for a 4-0 lead. The Braves resorted to small ball for their next two runs as Carson Weber and DJ Gasso followed with squeeze bunts. Gaa's replacement, freshman Luke Mangieri completed the third-inning scoring with a RBI single down the right field line in his first career at-bat.

Bradley starting pitcher Brent Stong became the second Brave to be removed from the game early due to injury. Stong worked 2.0 scoreless innings, striking out three, but could not return for the third. Freshman RHP Ben Cilano relieved, but allowed four unearned runs in just two-thirds of an inning.

Scheuermann got the final out of the third and earned the win by allowing two runs on six hits in 3.2 innings. With Bradley clinging to a 7-6 lead, Beer inherited a bases-loaded, 1-out situation in the bottom of the seventh and rose to the challenge by getting a 3-pitch strikeout and a first-pitch fly out to end the threat. He added a perfect eighth inning and then worked in and out of trouble in the ninth to nail down Bradley's first win of the season.

The Braves got the necessary insurance runs with a Garon sacrifice fly in the eighth and Gasso's run-scoring single in the ninth. After Austin Peay got a double and single to open the home half of the ninth, the Governors brought the potential tying run to the plate three times, beginning with Dre Gleason, who was 4-for-4 with three doubles and a home run entering the ninth. Beer got a shallow foul ball flyout from Gleason, then ended the game with two more fly outs.

Bradley ended the day with 11 hits, including two each from Leffler (2-6), Garon and RF Carson Weber (2-5). The bottom five hitters in the order each drove in at least one run, including two each from Fairchild and Gasso.

Bradley will return to action Thursday by opening Notre Dame's Irish Alamo Classic in San Antonio against Texas Southern. The Braves also will face the host Irish Friday, before completing the round-robin tournament with two games Saturday against Gonzaga and Incarnate Word.