May 11, 2008

Box Score

PEORIA, Ill. -

          The University of Northern Iowa baseball team fell behind early and could never catch up in an 11-4 loss at Bradley Sunday night at O'Briend Field. The Braves scored eight runs through the first three innings, five of them unearned after UNI (28-19, 13-8) committed three errors.

            The Panthers tallied 12 hits in the loss, including a 3-of-4 effort from Travis Hendrix. Brandon Douglas was 2-of-5 with his eighth home run of the season. Nick Kirk was charged with the loss, falling to 4-5 on the season.

            Kori Jensen pitched 6.2 innings of relief for the Braves (26-23, 10-11) to earn the win for Bradley, his fifth of the season.

            Grant Escue reached on an error in the bottom of the first, and Dan Brewer followed with a double just inches inside the left field line to move Escue to third. Colby Luttrell hit a sacrifice fly into center to score Escue. Mike Brumleve reached on an error to keep the inning alive and move Brewer to third. Brewer scored on a single by Jim Clayton, putting the Braves up 2-0. Nick Kirk struck out Nick Mitidiero to end the inning.

            Chris Lopez led off the top of the second with a single up the middle. Cory Ege

traded places with Lopez when he hit into a fielder's choice. Eddie Almonte hit a double down the left field line, moving Ege to third. Deric Manrique battled back from a 1-2 count to draw a walk and load the bases with one out. Dane Embury grounded into a double play, however, to end the Panther threat.

            Matt Fritz led off the bottom of the second with a single up the middle, and he moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a ground out. Escue doubled into right to score Fritz, and Dan Brewer singled up the middle to send Escue home and give the Braves a 4-0 lead.

            Travis Hendrix drew a leadoff walk in the top of the third. Brandon Douglas singled into left center, and he moved to second when the Braves tried to throw out Hendrix at third. Hendrix reached standing up, giving UNI runners at second and third with nobody out. Brett Douglas hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Hendrix and putting Brandon Douglas on third. Brett Featherston singled into right field, scoring Brandon Douglas and cutting the UNI deficit to 4-2. Kori Jensen entered in relief for the Braves, and he retired the next two batters to end the inning.

            Clayton drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the third. Nick Mitidiero doubled to give the Braves runners at second and third, and Matt Fritz reached on an error to score Clayton. Kirk struck out Tommy Fitzgerald, but Elliott singled into right to score Mitidiero. Escue doubled off the right field wall, sending Fritz and Elliott home and give the Braves an 8-2 advantage.

            Manrique reached on a fielder's choice in the top of the fourth. He moved to second on a wild pitch, and Hendrix delivered a two-out single up the middle to score Manrique and trim the UNI deficit to 8-3.

            Elliott drew a two-out walk off UNI reliever Derek Ott in the bottom of the fifth. Escue and Brewer followed with consecutive singles to score Elliott and extend the Bradley lead to 9-3. Ott struck out Luttrell looking to end the inning.

            Brandon Douglas added a run for UNI with a solo home run in the top of the seventh, pulling UNI within five, 9-4.

            Bradley answered in the bottom of the seventh. Fitzgerald led off with a single and scored on a two-out double by Brewer. Mike Brumleve singled up the middle to score Brewer, stretching the Braves' lead to 11-4.

            Both teams were held scoreless through the remainder of the game.

            UNI returns to action on Monday when it plays at Northern Illinois at 2 p.m. in its final non-conference tilt of the season.