By: Ben Pollard and Younes Dayekh
Bradley lost their only season series with Dallas Baptist this past weekend, dropping both of Saturday’s doubleheader contests. The Braves won the first game on Friday night.
With Saturday’s losses, Bradley’s 12-game winning streak, the nation’s longest and program’s second-longest, came to an end.
To begin the series, Bradley won 2-1 on Friday night, snapping a nine-game losing streak to the Patriots, thanks to phenomenal pitching from Mitch Janssen, Ben Olson and Theron Denlinger.
Janssen started the game and pitched 5 1/3 innings, striking out five and allowing three hits. Olson relieved Janssen in the fifth, pitching 2 2/3 innings. Olson gave up one hit and struck out four. Denlinger struck out one batter and earned his third save of the season while pitching the ninth inning.
Right fielder J.F. Garon’s only hit, a solo home run in the seventh, gave Bradley a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, centerfielder Andy Shadid tripled to right field, driving in one run.
During Friday’s game, catcher Keaton Rice also drew his 34th walk of the season. Rice, who is sixth in the nation in walks, thinks that his position gives him a distinct advantage during each at-bat.
“Being a catcher helps me understand the strike zone, and I am able to lay off pitches that aren’t in the zone,” said Rice.
Dallas Baptist scored their only run in the ninth inning.
In their first matchup on Saturday, the second of the series, Dallas Baptist defeated Bradley 14-3 in seven innings.
Like Bradley’s did in the first game, the Patriots’ pitching staff came out strong and never let the Braves get comfortable.
Dallas Baptists’ MD Johnson pitched six innings and earned the win, allowing four hits and one run. Cole Reeves entered the game in the seventh and final inning, allowing two runs on three hits.
On offense, Dallas Baptist came out swinging, scoring 11 runs in the first four innings.
Bradley did not score until the fourth inning when left fielder Dan Bolt hit a solo home run. Bolt now has eight on the season. With two hits in both of Saturday’s contests, Bolt extended his hit streak to 14-games.
The left fielder said his focus and ability to stay level-headed are what have made him a threat with each at-bat. When he is at the plate, Bolt said that he tries to compete against the pitcher and himself.
In the third and final game of the series, Dallas Baptist defeated Bradley 7-6. The Patriots scored all seven of their runs with two outs.
To begin the third game, Bradley jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, only to give up five runs in the next five innings. With Bradley leading 6-5, Dallas Baptist scored two runs with two outs in the eighth, taking the final lead of the game.
“Both teams played extremely well in that third game,” said third baseman Brendan Dougherty. “It was a dogfight until the end, and unfortunately, we didn’t come out on top.”
Despite the two losses this past weekend, Bradley is playing its best baseball of the year, going 12-3 in their last 15 games. With roughly a month left in the season, the Braves are looking to finish strong.
“We need to keep our momentum going by getting a win against Illinois and going down to Missouri State ready to take care of business,” said Dougherty. “We know that we have what it takes to play with anybody in the conference and we just need to take advantage of our opportunities.”
Looking ahead, the Braves take on Illinois on Tuesday, April 23, at Dozer Park. Bradley then travels to Missouri State for a three-game series, beginning Friday, April 26.