at Evansville 2, Bradley 0

EVANSVILLE, IN - A classic pitcher's dual turned in favor of Evansville when Bradley's staff suffered through a sudden loss of control in the eighth inning, allowing the host Purple Aces to pull out a 2-0 Missouri Valley Conference baseball win Sunday afternoon at Braun Stadium.

Bradley starter Brent Stong extended his personal scoreless streak to 16.2 innings by tossing 7.0 scoreless innings. The senior left-hander allowed six hits and walked three, but held the Purple Aces to an 0-for-6 effort with runners in scoring position.

Freshman left-hander Ben Olson (L, 1-4) relieved Stong to start the eighth, but was relieved by Eric Scheuermann after surrendering a 1-out single. Scheuermann had recorded at least one strikeout in 23 consecutive appearances, but saw that streak snapped by a lack of control Sunday. Of the four batters Scheuermann faced, he walked two, hit a batter and uncorked a pair of wild pitches to plate the only run Evansville needed. Nathan Stong entered the weekend ranked among the nation's top five in strikeouts-to-walk ratio, but inheriting a bases-loaded, 2-outs situation, Stong issued just his third walk of the season to push home Evansville's second run.

Evansville starter Alex Weigand surrendered five hits in his 6.0 innings of work, but he did not allow Bradley to advance a runner to second base. The Braves came up empty in two prime scoring opportunities against the Purple Aces bullpen.

First baseman Paul Solka led off the seventh inning with a single, but after a ground out and a wild pitch moved him to third with just one out, Evansville reliever Brent Jurceka (W, 4-2) fanned Andy Shadid and Brady Wilkin to strand the runner.

Spencer Gaa led off the ninth inning with his third hit of the day and the Braves used a pair of walks to load the bases with one out, only to see the game come to an end with two more strikeouts.

Bradley will make a brief return home Wednesday to host Iowa in a 7 p.m. game at Dozer Park. The Braves will hit the road again next weekend for a 3-game Valley series at Wichita State.