2015 Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship
Game 1: (3) Bradley 9, (6) Evansville 2

WICHITA, Kan. - Bradley's historic season continued with an emphatic start to the 2015 Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship at Wichita State's Eck Stadium, where the third-seeded Braves (33-18) opened the tournament with a dominant, 9-2 victory against sixth-seeded Evansville (29-23) Wednesday morning.

The Braves now have won 33 games for the first time since 1996 (40-22) and advance to a Bracket A winner's bracket game Thursday at 4 p.m. against the victor of Game 2 between seventh-seeded Indiana State and second-seeded #11 Dallas Baptist. Bradley played both teams on the road this season, winning 2-of-3 at Indiana State and dropping 2-of-3 at Dallas Baptist.

Bradley junior right-hander Elliot Ashbeck (11-4) was dominant from the outset and he carried a 4-hit shutout through 7.2 innings before Joe Carter Valley Player of the Year Kevin Kaczmarski ended the shutout bid with a 2-run home run with two outs in the eighth. Ashbeck allowed two runs on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts in his 8.0 innings of work for his 11th win of the season, matching the third-best single season wins total in Bradley history.

Ashbeck's effort was made easier by Bradley's offensive support. The Braves matched their season-high with 14 hits and the nine runs were their most since a 12-11 victory April 15 at Northern Illinois. Making his MVC Tournament debut, freshman designated hitter Ian Kristan was 3-for-3 with a walk in his four plate appearances and kick-started Bradley's offense with a 1-out double to start a 4-run second inning.

Tyler Leffler started the scoring by following Kristan's double with a RBI single to left and he scored on a Chris Godinez single. Isaac Smith provided what proved to be the deciding runs with a 2-run triple on a towering fly ball to the base of the left centerfield wall for a 4-0 lead.

Smith provided a pair of defensive highlights with a pair of diving catches that have been submitted to ESPN for SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays segment. Both catches came on shallow fly balls with runners on base, the first sliding across Wichita State's WuShock logo to end the top of the fourth and the second with a roll added on to the catch in right centerfield to end the top of the fifth.

Already leading 4-0, Bradley broke the game open in between Smith's two catches by scoring five runs in the home half of the fourth. Seven straight Bradley hitters reached safely against Evansville starter Brodie Harkness (6-4), starting with Carson Weber's 1-out double. Spencer Gaa started the scoring with a bases-loaded, 2-run single, which was followed by Paul Solka's RBI single, a Drew Carlile run-scoring double and Kristan's RBI single to complete the scoring.

NOTES: Bradley entered the tournament tied for seventh nationally for wins away from home and improved to 22-12 away from Dozer Park this season ... The 22 wins away from home are the most by Bradley since the 1996 Braves also won 22 road (11-11) and neutral (11-4) games ... Leadoff hitter Chris Godinez entered the tournament ranked 12th nationally with a .496 on-base percentage ... Godinez was hit by the first pitch in the bottom of the first, extending his streak of consecutive games reaching safely to 27 ... Godinez finished 1-for-3 with the HBP and a walk in five plate appearances and also extended his streak of consecutive games drawing a walk to 11 ... Starting pitcher Elliot Ashbeck is a semifinalist for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year award and his 11 wins are the most among the 21 players under consideration for the award ... Bradley's nine runs were its most in a MVC Tournament game since a 10-9 loss to Missouri State May 20, 1999 at Wichita State.