NCAA BASEBALL LOUISVILLE REGIONAL | GAME 3
(2) Bradley 9, (4) Morehead State 4

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Three Bradley pitchers limited Morehead State to more than four runs below its per-game scoring average and the Braves (36-20) matched their season-high for hits en route to a 9-4 win in the third game of the Louisville Regional Saturday afternoon at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Bradley snapped a 10-game postseason losing streak and earned its first NCAA Tournament since the third round of the 1956 College World Series. The No. 2 seed in the Louisville Regional, Bradley will play again at noon Sunday against the loser of tonight's winner's bracket game between Michigan and host Louisville.

The first three hitters in the Bradley order set the table all day as the trio of Chris Godinez (1 BB, 2 HBPs), Isaac Smith (2-for-3, 1 HBP) and Spencer Gaa (3-for-5) combined to reach base nine times and each scored twice. Paul Solka was 3-for-4 with a home run, Drew Carlile was 2-for-3 with three runs batted in and Elliot Ashbeck was 2-for-5 with a double as the Braves banged out 14 hits for the third time this season.

Cameron Roeger started strong on the mound before tiring in the fifth and the duo of Nathan Stong and Allan Beer combined to blank the Eagles over the final four innings. Morehead State (38-22) entered the game leading the nation with a .333 team batting average and in scoring at 8.5 runs per game. A third-year sophomore, Stong (1-0) picked up his first career win by tossing 3.1 scoreless innings, while Beer got out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to complete a scoreless ninth inning.

Bradley got off to a fast start by scoring in the first inning for the fourth consecutive game. Godinez was hit by a pitch, extending his streak of consecutive games reaching base safely to 31 games, and after he swiped second, Smith drove him home with a sharp single to left for a 1-0 lead before the Eagles recorded an out. Carlile added a sacrifice fly and Tyler Leffler delivered a 2-out, RBI single through the left side of the infield later in the inning for a 3-0 Bradley lead.

The Braves chased Morehead State starter Craig Pearcy (4-5) in the third. Smith was hit by a pitch to open the inning, took third on a Gaa ground out and scored on an Ashbeck line drive single to center field for a 4-0 Bradley lead. Solka followed with a sharp liner to left field to end Pearcy's day. A Carlile single loaded the bases with one out, but reliver Brent Stoneking kept the Braves from taking advantage by getting a foul out and fly out to end the frame.

The Braves extended their lead to 5-0 in the fourth inning when Godinez drew a 1-out walk, swiped his second base of the day and scored on Gaa's double off the base of the left field fence. After Robby Spencer pulled the Eagles to within 5-2 with his 2-run double in the bottom of the fourth, Solka answered with his fifth home run of the year to lead off the fifth, pushing Bradley's lead back to 6-2. Morehead State again went to its bullpen for a pair of lefty-lefty matchups, but after reliever Cable Wright got Evan Gruener to fly out, Carson Weber put Bradley's lead back to five runs, 7-2, with a RBI single to right center.

Roegner ran out of gas in the fifth inning after starting the frame by issuing a pair of walks. He was on the verge of getting out of the jam after getting a strikeout and a fielder's choice ground ball, but his third walk of the inning to load the bases ended his day. Stong relieved and gave up a 2-run single to Brandon Rawe that pulled the Eagles to within 7-4, before getting MSU's leading hitter, Chris Robinson, to fly out to the center field warning track.

Morehead State turned to a fourth pitcher, Aaron Goe, to try and hold Bradley in check, but Gaa and Ashbeck opened the sixth with leadoff hits before Carlile brought them home with a line drive single to center field, pushing Bradley's lead advantage back to five runs at 9-4.