SATURDAY'S SCORES
Bradley 9,
Morehead State 4 (Louisville, Ky.)
BRADLEY 9, MOREHEAD STATE 4
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The second-seeded Bradley baseball team recorded 14 hits and scored in five different innings on its way to a 9-4 win over fourth-seeded Morehead State before a crowd of 1,870 on Saturday afternoon in an NCAA Tournament elimination game at Jim Patterson Stadium.
The Braves improve to 35-20 overall and 12-2 at neutral sites after going 10-11 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Eagles finish 38-22 overall and 6-3 at neutral sites after going 20-10 in the Ohio Valley Conference. MSU's overall wins and league victories are both school records.
Bradley faces the loser of top-seeded Louisville and third-seeded Michigan on Sunday at Noon ET. The winner of that loser's bracket finale jumps back into the championship round against the winner of UL and UM. The Braves are enjoying their first NCAA Tournament berth since 1968.
Bradley jumped out to a 4-0 advantage midway through the third inning. The Braves recorded three hits in the opening frame and three more in their third at-bat. BU's No. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 hitters combined to go 12-for-20 with three doubles, one round-tripper, seven runs and seven RBI.
"We got behind the eight ball from the get-go with a rough first inning," Head Coach Mike McGuire said. "It felt like we were swimming upstream the rest of the game. We had some opportunities, but didn't get that big hit. I thought we were one or two (hits) away from making it real interesting."
Sophomore third baseman Spencer Gaa and junior first baseman Paul Solka led Bradley with three hits apiece. Solka blasted a homer and senior catcher Drew Carlile tallied three RBI, while Gaa, senior center fielder Isaac Smith and junior second baseman Chris Godinez scored two runs each.
Sophomore center fielder Ryan Kent led Morehead State by going 3-for-5 with one double and two runs. Senior shortstop Robby Spencer recorded one walk, two hits and two RBI in three plate appearances, while senior right fielder Brandon Rawe brought home MSU's other two runs.
Sophomore right-hander Nathan Stong, the second of three Bradley pitchers, picked up the victory in his first decision of 2015. He tossed 3.1 scoreless innings while allowing just one walk and three hits.
Morehead State used five pitchers. Junior right-hander Craig Pearcy, who allowed four earned runs and five hits over the game's first 2.1 innings, fell to 4-5 with the loss. Junior right-hander Matt Anderson yielded just two hits while registering scoreless frames in the seventh, eighth and ninth.
Morehead State was playing in its first NCAA Tournament since 1983. The Eagles captured their first OVC Tournament title since 1993 by going 3-0 last week in Jackson, Tenn. MSU still improved by 22 wins from 2013 when it went 16-40. The Eagles wrap up the year with 27 wins in their last 36 tilts.
"Our season goals included winning an OVC championship and playing in an NCAA Regional," McGuire said. "This loss hurts right now, but we accomplished both of those goals so I can't say it was a disappointing year. I am very proud of where we are in 2015, considering how we started when I got to Morehead State in 2013. Our players, assistant coaches and support staff members have put in a lot of work and deserve lots of credit."
Spencer, Rawe, Kane Sweeney, Chris Robinson, Nick Newell, Blaine Tanner, Cyrus Strahm, Clayton Meyer and Blake Smith were all wearing an Eagle jersey for the final time on Saturday. The senior class helped re-write the Morehead State record book and collected several accolades.
Morehead State wraps up the campaign by setting single-season school records for doubles (172), hits (736), runs (505), triples (20) and walks (263). The 2015 Eagles also place second in school history for RBI (467) and total bases (1146) in a season.
Sweeney moves into first at Morehead State for career walks (148), while Robinson set the single-season hits record (99) and Newell established the single-season doubles standard (29). In addition, Spencer is now second all-time for single-season RBI (71).
Morehead State's pitchers also registered single-season marks for strikeouts (443) and saves (18).
"Our seniors have been terrific, and they will all be missed," McGuire added. "I can't thank them enough for putting Morehead State baseball on the map. In terms of our future, my hope is this NCAA Regional appearance energizes our fan base. We've had tremendous support the past month, and we need that on a consistent basis. We also expect this weekend to help with recruiting as we move forward. Recruiting is the lifeblood of any college athletics program. I'm the same coach who won 16 games two seasons ago. We've just worked extremely hard to attract better players."