CHARLESTON, Ill. – Punctuated by a two-out grand slam, Bradley scored nine times in the top of the seventh inning to rally back and defeat Eastern Illinois baseball, 15-8, Wednesday afternoon at Coaches Stadium.

The 15 runs allowed were one shy of EIU's season high and the most given up in a loss this year.

The Panthers (28-9) trailed 4-1 entering the bottom of the fifth, but surged ahead with six unearned runs in the frame. Eastern took a 7-4 lead into the top of the seventh.

 

Bradley (14-21) knocked around Jordan Kreke, who had not given up a run in his each of his last five relief appearances, for eight runs on six hits. Tommy Fitzgerald hit the grand slam off of Mike Martin after Martin had gotten the first batter he faced to pop out.

Zach Borenstein led EIU with three hits. He and Jordan Tokarz both scored twice. But 11 of the Panthers' 12 hits were singles. The Braves, meanwhile, hit four home runs. Matt Fritz and Nick Mitidiero both connected for solo shots in the first inning. Grant Escue put his team ahead to stay with a three-run homer in the seventh.

 

One of the few bright spots for EIU was Mike Recchia, who bounced back from his poorest outing of the season in Sunday's loss to Jacksonville State. Recchia retired five straight hitters after giving up an infield single to the first batter he faced. He brought the fifth inning to a close with runners on second and third.

 

Eastern starter Matt Miller bounced back after giving up the two first-inning homers. He surrendered only one other hit over 4 1/3 innings.

 

“I was very happy with Matt Miller setting down after the first inning,” EIU head coach Jim Schmitz said. “I thought Ben Thoma did a nice job behind the dish. It was nice to have our catcher back. Those are the two things I was looking at with regard to this game. And then being down, obviously they made some errors, but we came back and got the runs to get the lead. Jordan Kreke was just ugly. One bad inning and that's what happens. We're a little thin on pitching. They pitched their top [midweek] guys because they didn't play [yesterday]. We just bounce back tomorrow.”

 

The Panthers benefited from a pair of fielding errors by BU infielders in the six-run fifth. The first miscue came on a potential double play ball to second base with one out. Ryan Lindquist scored from second and Borenstein reached safely when the ball went through Fritz's legs. Tokarz followed with a walk and Zach Skidmore plated a run with a sacrifice fly to center. A subsequent walk to Alex Gee loaded the bases and brought BU reliever Brandon Stevens' outing to an end.

 

With Tyler Thornton on the mound, Kreke hit a grounder to third that Jordan Colvin fumbled. Pinch hitter Jake Samuels then smashed a one-hopper off of Thornton's backside for an RBI infield hit that plated the go-ahead run. Thoma followed with a two-run single to left center.

 

Skidmore's double over Escue's head in the first inning plated Tokarz and allowed EIU to answer the two solo homers in the top half of the frame.

 

Even though he struggled on the mound, Kreke was able to extend his career-best hitting streak to 13 straight games with an infield single in his first at-bat.

The Panthers continue their 10-game homestand Thursday against Illinois College. Zach Carney is expected to make his first start of the season for EIU.

More Info: Contact Ben Turner, Asst. SID