Richmond, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky baseball team dropped a 9-4 decision to Bradley on Saturday afternoon at Turkey Hughes Field. The Braves (2-2) rode a strong effort from starting pitcher Brandon Magee, who scattered five hits over 7.1 innings of work, to their second victory of the young season.
EKU (1-2) was held to six hits, two of which came from junior Chris O'Dell who drove in three of Eastern's four runs. Magee (1-1) carried a shutout into the bottom of the sixth before O'Dell put the Colonels on the board with a two-run single. The Braves totaled 13 hits in the game and scored two runs off EKU sophomore starter McKenzie Willoughby in the top of the first.
Bradley stole three bases in the first inning and made use of two free passes (including a batter hit by a pitch) to set the plate for a two-run single by Jon Smith. After a rough first inning, Willoughby (0-1) settled down and held Bradley scoreless over the next three innings (facing just 10 batters over that span).
The Braves' bats came back to life in the top of the fifth, as three-straight singles, capped off by a two-run base knock from Ryan Curry, made it a 4-0 ball game. Willoughby left the game after the fifth having surrendered four runs with four strikeouts. Eastern prevented any further damage in the inning by nailing Paul Rice at the plate (9-3-2) as he tried to score off a double by Brad Canada.
Bradley managed two more runs in the top of the sixth, the first of which came off a solo homer from Ryan Kenny. Adam Usicki made it a 6-0 contest moments later when he scored from second off a wild pitch from EKU freshman Justin Fitz. Back-to-back walks by senior Derrick Bussell and sophomore Shawn Flora in the bottom half set the stage for O'Dell's two-run double, which pulled Eastern within four, 6-2.
Having seen their lead cut to four, Bradley responded by tacking on two more runs in the seventh, fueled by a solo shot from Rice. Joe Napoli drove in the team's other run in the frame to make it 8-2. Eastern went down in order in the bottom of the seventh but pushed across two runs in the eighth to keep their hopes alive. Bussell drew a one-out walk then moved into scoring position by stealing second. Flora followed with a run-scoring single, his first RBI of the year, and went on to score off a sacrifice fly from O'Dell.
An RBI double by Justin Carr in the top of the ninth, however, gave the Braves all the insurance they would need. Magee picked up his first win of the season by going 7.1 innings with three strikeouts and four walks. Michael Christl closed out the game for the Braves with 1.2 scoreless innings.
O'Dell led the Colonels with two hits and three RBI, while Bussell and Flora accounted for all four of the team's runs (two a piece). Bradley had three players register multi-hit games in the win, while Curry and Smith each drove in a team-high two runs.
EKU has a chance to get even with the Braves tomorrow morning, as the team takes on the Braves at 10 a.m. at Turkey Hughes Field. The Colonels will then face IPFW, whom they beat 11-5 on Friday, at 2 p.m.
