Bob Hunt Photographer

Freshman LHP Brent Stong gave Bradley 7.0 strong innings and senior LF Mike Tauchman was 2-for-4 with a double, run scored and RBI, but Evansville (23-33) staved off elimination in the 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship when Kevin Kaczmarski launched a 3-run, walk-off home run, lifting the Purple Aces to a 4-3 win in Wednesday’s second round at Duffy Bass Field. The loss ends the Braves season at 17-32 and Tauchman, the Joe Carter MVC Player of the Year, will have to wait and see if his school-record .425 season batting average stands up as the nation’s best through the remainder of the postseason. Stong limited Evansville to one run on four hits in his longest outing of the season, 7.0 innings, then gave way to fellow freshman Elliot Ashbeck to start the eighth. Ashbeck (0-2) worked a perfect eighth, but ran into trouble with one out in the ninth. After surrendering a single to No. 8 hitter, shortstop Shain Showers, Ashbeck walked No. 9 hitter Andy Lasher before Kaczmarski lined his game-winning blast over the right-field wall.

-Bob

Bradley University took a 5-run lead into the ninth inning, but still could not put an end to its Missouri Valley Conference skid as visiting Southern Illinois (24-27, 6-12 MVC) used five extra base hits in its final at bat to rally for an 8-7 win Sunday afternoon at Dozer Park on senior day. The Braves (16-28, 1-17) dropped its 15th consecutive Valley game, despite holding a 7-2 lead with one out and nobody on base in the top of the ninth. Freshman right-hander Elliot Ashbeck retired his eighth consecutive Saluki hitter when he got Luke Mottashed to pop out to open the ninth, but five straight Salukis reached on three doubles, a home run and a walk. Senior right-hander Patrick Flanagan relieved with a runner at second base and the Braves still clinging to a 7-6 lead and he was within one pitch of closing out the win after he retired SIU slugger Austin Montgomery on a first-pitch foul out.  After plunking Ryan Casillas with a pitch, Flanagan jumped ahead of Cody Daily, 0-2, but gave up a 2-run double to the Salukis third baseman for SIU’s fifth extra-base hit of the inning. Despite the deflating events of the top of the ninth, Bradley had a chance to rally against SIU closer Todd Eaton.  Brady Wilkin started the home half of the ninth with a high-chopper to second and wound up at 2nd base when Wes Neece’s throw went into the first base camera bay. After Nolan Sponsler grounded out to second, moving Wilkin to third, SIU elected to pitch to the league’s top hitter, Mike Tauchman, who was 8-for-11 in the series. SIU appeared to catch a huge break when Tauchman skied a pop up on the infield, but shortstop Jake Welch could not make the catch after racing across the front of the mound to the first base side.

-Bob

Missouri State University took the opener 3-1 to eliminate Bradley University from the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, but senior pitcher MacKenzie Camp and the Braves ended the season on a high note with a 3-1 victory in the nightcap. Bradley (23-29 overall, 8-17 MVC) left 11 runners on base in the opener and was unable to capitalize on numerous scoring opportunities as Missouri State (22-29 overall, 13-12 MVC) held on for a 3-1 win behind sophomore pitcher Chelsea Jones.  The Bears took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, scoring the first run of the day on a double steal. A pinch hit Rebecca McPherson double and triple off the bat of Kerri Cunningham led to another Missouri State run in the top of the sixth to give the Bears a 3-0 advantage, before Bradley snapped a streak of 21 consecutive innings without a run with a score in the bottom half of the inning. Madeline Lynch-Crumrine took the loss in the circle for Bradley in the day’s first game, finishing the year with a 14-16 record. Camp pitched 1.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen in the opener, striking out four and walking one. Camp carried that momentum into the second game, holding Missouri State to just four hits and one unearned run in a complete victory. She struck out two in the win, which gave her a career-best nine victories (9-12) on the year. Juniors Alex Chandler and Marina Groenewegen homered in the nightcap for the Braves.

-Bob

Missouri Valley Conference rival Wichita State, Bradley University could not hold a 6-3 lead in the ninth inning, allowing the Shockers (20-16, 6-2 MVC) to rally for a 10-6 win in 10 innings Saturday afternoon at Peoria Chiefs Stadium. Trying to climb out of that 6-3 hole, Wichita State had a runner at second with two outs in the top of the ninth, then got an RBI double from Micah Green in front of four consecutive walks from Bradley pitchers Andy Johnson (three) and Stephen Toma to force extra innings tied at 6-6. The fifth and sixth runs actually scored on wild pitches, one from each reliever. The Braves put the potential winning run on base in the bottom of the ninth when Mike Tauchman worked a 10-pitch at-bat for a 2-out single and took second on a wild pitch, but he was tagged out at third on a Max Murphy high-hopper. After scoring four runs on two walks and four singles in the top of the 10th, the Shockers made an effort to give the game back to the Braves in the home half of the extra frame by loading the bases on a 2-out, 3rd-strike passed ball and consecutive walks.  Representing the tying run while standing in for his third career plate appearance, freshman pitcher Elliot Ashbeck just missed on a heroic swing, but ended the game with a fly ball to the right field warning track. The late-game events spoiled the first career start for Bradley left-hander Brent Stong, who allowed three runs, two earned, on six hits in 5.1 innings.

-Bob

Bradley rallied from a 3-1 deficit by winning the third set in each of the last three matches, earning a 4-3 women’s tennis victory against visiting Nebraska-Omaha (4-10) Friday afternoon at the David Markin Tennis Courts. The Braves (8-10) matched the program’s best season victory total in the last 20 years when No. 6 singles player Kennedy Scott pulled out a 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 win in the final match of the day. Coming off consecutive 3-20 campaigns, Bradley now has won eight matches in five seasons since a 14-7 campaign in 1992-93. Scott was given the opportunity to play for the clinching point when sophomore Cassia Wojtalik fought off five match points in the third set for a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 win at No. 4 singles. After the Mavericks swept the three doubles matches to earn the day’s first point, Elizabeth Przystawski breezed to a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 5 singles to knot the match at 1-1. Omaha moved to within one point of the win by winning a pair of straight-set decisions at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, but Carly Miles started the Bradley comeback with a 7-6, 3-6, 6-0 win at No. 3 singles.

-Bob