at Illinois State 4, Bradley 3

NORMAL, IL - Late game replacement Blake Molitor drove home a disputed winning run with a 1-out single in the ninth inning as host Illinois State (15-30, 5-9 MVC) dodged a weekend sweep against I-74 Rival Bradley (23-17, 7-7 MVC) with a 4-3, walkoff win Sunday afternoon at Duffy Bass Field.

Owen Miller and Joe Kelch hit consecutive one-out singles through the left side of the Bradley infield to set the stage for Molitor, who entered the game as a pinch-runner in the eighth inning. Molitor drove an 0-1 pitch from Bradley closer Allan Beer (L 2-1) to left field. Evan Gruener's throw home was in time, but Miller slid wide of the plate and Bradley catcher Zach Fairchild was ruled to have missed the runner with his swipe tag. After Miller dodged a second tag attempt, both players dove for the plate and Miller was ruled to win the dive to score the game-ending run.

Bradley second baseman DJ Gasso was 3-for-3 with two doubles and third baseman Spencer Gaa was 2-for-3 with a double for the Braves. Bradley rallied from an early 2-0 deficit with RBI singles by Fairchild and Gasso in the fourth, then took the lead in the seventh on Gaa's sacrifice fly.

Despite Sunday's loss, Bradley took 2-of-3 games from its rival and won a series in Normal for the first time since also winning 2-of-3 in 2006.
The Braves will close out their 2016 home schedule next weekend by hosting Indiana State in a 3-game set at Dozer Park. Game times will be 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.