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PEORIA, Ill. – Eastern Illinois baseball equaled Bradley in the hit column, but nine walks and a pair of big innings lifted the Braves to an 11-4 victory Wednesday evening at O'Brien Field.
Brett Nommensen, Jordan Tokarz and Cameron Strang all collected two hits for Eastern, which finished with 11 as a team.
Bradley (18-19) took a 5-0 lead thanks to a four-run third inning. After EIU made it a two-run game, the Braves blew the contest open with a five-run sixth.
The Panthers (18-20) registered four consecutive singles in the fifth inning to chase BU stater Eitan Barbalat. Strang began the singles streak and scored on a base hit by
Curt Restko. Tokarz then plated Nommensen.
But reliever Kori Jensen (4-0) retired
Richie Derbak and
Jordan Kreke to bring the inning to a close. The right-hander limited EIU to three hits over 3 2/3 innings after the Panthers collected eight over the 4 1/3 against Barbalat.
Derbak led off the fourth with a double and after advancing on a fly ball to right from Kreke, scored on a ground ball to the right side off the bat of
Zach Skidmore.
Restko scored EIU's final run in the seventh inning on a dropped fly ball by the Bradley center fielder. The sophomore was hit by a pitch earlier in the frame.
The Panthers had an opportunity to jump out to an early lead after having runners on first and third with one out in the first inning. However, a Derbak line drive to second base turned into a 4-3 double play.
Each of EIU's first three pitchers to take the mound –
Zach Carney (0-1),
Brian Morrell and
Mike Recchia – issued three walks apiece. Derbak, who worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning, was the lone Panther pitcher that did not allow a run, lowering his ERA to an impressive 0.71.
The bottom third of the Bradley lineup accounted for nine of its team's 10 RBIs.
The Panthers return to action Saturday for a 1 p.m. Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader at Samford.
