Jacksonville, Ala. -- Despite the loss on Sunday, the Bradley Baseball team earned a series victory over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks this weekend. 

The Braves earned their first series victory of the 2023 season after taking the first two of three games against the Gamecocks this weekend in Jacksonville, Alabama. Bradley evens their record at 4-4 on the season. 

Game One 

Late-game heroics gave the Bradley Braves a win in the first game of the series over Jacksonville State on Friday night. The Gamecocks lead for the majority of the game after they scored the game's first run in the bottom of the first on an RBI single from Caleb Johnson. 

The Braves were held quiet until the fifth inning when TJ Manteufel continued his good play as of late. Manteufel singled to left field scoring Carson Husmann and tying the game at one. The Gamecocks answered right back in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI double by Mason Maners.

Bradley bounced back in the next inning and tied the game again on an RBI double of their own from Logan Delgado. Jacksonville State would counter Bradley's offense again and take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth on a Carson Crowe solo home run. 

The score would stay 3-2 in favor of Jacksonville State as play entered the top of the ninth. Jake Peppers was looking for the two-inning save and hoping to slam the door shut after striking out the first two batters in the ninth inning for Bradley. Jackson Chatterton was the final hope for the Braves and after battling in the at-bat, the Dunlap, Illinois native homered on a 2-2 count to keep the game alive. 

Bradley's pitching held Jacksonville State quiet through the ninth and tenth innings. Bradley would take their first lead of the game in the top of the 11th inning on a home run by Connor O'Brien, his third consecutive series with a home run. The lead would stay for good with Anthony Potthoff earning the victory. 

This victory by the Bradley Braves was also the 500th career victory for head coach Elvis Dominguez. 

Game Two

Connor O'Brien picked up right where he left off the night prior and scored the first runs of the game on a two-run home run in the first inning of the second game of the series. 

The Gamecocks answered back with five unanswered runs through the next two innings and chased Bradley starting pitcher Travis Lutz from the game after just one inning of work. 

Trailing 5-2 entering the top of the third inning, the Bradley offense went back to work and secured a lead for the remainder of the game. Cal McGinnis tripled down the left field line scoring Ryan Vogel from first. O'Brien picked up his third RBI of the game when he grounded out in the third to score McGinnis. 

Bradley scored three runs in the fifth inning after Easton Harris scored on a wild pitch, Manteufel scored on a ground out and a single from Peter Hansen scored Vogel. The Braves tacked on two more in the sixth inning on two wild pitches which scored Husmann and Harris. 

The Gamecocks would score two in the seventh inning on a two-run home run from T.J. Reeves but it was not enough to overcome the deficit and the Braves took the win, 9-7, and picked up a series victory after taking the first two games. 

Game Three

Only the third series of the season and the Bradley Braves looked for their first sweep of the season on Sunday against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. 

Just as the Braves start game two, Bradley jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run home run by Peter Hansen. 

Bradley held the 2-0 lead until the fourth inning when Jacksonville State scored four runs to take the lead on a wild pitch and a pair of hits. The Gamecocks answered Bradley's two runs with nine of their own and led 9-2 entering the seventh inning. 

Ryan Vogel picked up an RBI single and the Braves picked up three runs in the seventh but it was not enough to overcome the bulge from Jacksonville State as the Gamecocks added two more in the eighth inning and picked up an 11-5 win to avoid the sweep. 

Notable Performances

Ryan Vogel continues to perform at a very high level for the Bradley Braves. On the weekend, Vogel went 6-14 (.428) at the plate and scored four times. 

Connor O'Brien continues to show off the power as the senior slugger picked up his third and fourth home runs of the season. 

Jackson Chatterton had a big performance in Friday's win over the Gamecocks which included a game-tying home run in the ninth inning. Chatterton finished the game 3-4. 

What's Coming Up?

This is the final week before spring break, as the team will begin their spring break in Florida with a three-game series against Jacksonville University.

The team will then travel to Florida Atlantic for a weekday game that will be played on Wednesday, March 15th.

The Braves will end their spring break by traveling to Ann Arbor to take on the Michigan Wolverines for a three-game series.