Bradley Rallies for Win Over Western

Roman Visintine extends his hitting streak to 13 games

Box Score PEORIA, Ill. – Western Illinois held a 3-1 lead after the fourth inning but Bradley's bullpen blanked the Leathernecks down the stretch and rallied for a 6-3 decision on Tuesday night (April 5).

Western (8-18 overall) staged a two-out rally in the first with walks to Colton Pogue and Nick Schrader around a single from Conner Currier. Bradley's Ben Olson was able to get a flyball to end the threat.

The Braves (14-9) used a RBI single from Tyler Leffler in the first for a 1-0 lead. WIU got a two out hit in the second to tie the score.

Cord Church walked to start the inning. He stole second and went to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Roman Visintine extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a two out RBI single.

Bradley got a leadoff double in the second. Luke Mangieri singled to center but Nathan Pollock came up throwing and nailed Andy Shadid at the plate. Adam McGinnis then threw down to second base and erased Mangieri going for two and complete the double play.

Currier walked to start the third and advanced a base on Schrader's sacrifice bunt. McGinnis hit his fourth double of the year to score Currier and give Western a 2-1 lead. The Leathernecks added to their lead in the fourth. Chris Tschida drew a leadoff walk. He went to third on a ball hit by Visintine over the head of the left fielder. Pogue hit a flyball to right, and Tschida was able to beat the throw home on the sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead.

Matthew Sturchio retired the first seven batters he faced in relief, starting in the fourth inning. However, Bradley used a single, walk and a misplayed infield popup to cut the lead to 3-2 in the sixth. Then on the next at-bat, DJ Gasso dropped a single in shallow right to tie the game.

Bradley used a bases loaded walk with one out in the eighth to take the lead for good. Spencer Gaa lined a 2-run single for insurance runs and the final margin.

Western was held hitless after Visintine's double in the fourth inning, finishing with four hits. Colan Borchers (1-1) suffered the loss after getting charged for three runs on one hit in 1.2 innings. Ricky Digrugilliers got the final two outs.

Starter Sam Cottingham-Beard gave up a run on five hits in three innings. Sturchio gave up two unearned runs on two hits in 2.2 innings. Visintine accounted for two of the team's four hits.

"I thought it was a big difference from our last midweek game, we came out ready to play. I thought Sam did a tremendous job getting his first start of the year. He's finally getting back to where he was at last year," said head coach Ryan Brownlee. "Offensively we had some good at bats early, we got Bradley's starter out of the game early, but we need to find ways to keep scoring runs. We saw their main weekend guy and main bullpen guys tonight. On those two plays (in the sixth) those were some funky in-between popups. We have to have better communication there, but overall our effort was really good. The final score was not indicative of the game, we had control for most of the game."

Nathan Stong (1-0) earned the win in relief with two scoreless innings. Eric Scheuermann earned his fourth save with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

Western returns to Alfred D. Boyer Stadium this weekend in a three-game match-up between league leading Oral Roberts (7-2 Summit League) and second place Leathernecks (6-3 Summit League). The series opens on Friday afternoon (April 8) at 3 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#16 Colan Borchers: RHP; 6' 3"; Sophomore; R/R

#42 Sam Cottingham-Beard: RHP; 6' 2"; Sophomore; R/R

#12 Adam McGinnis: C; 5' 11"; Junior; R/R

#22 Nathan Pollock: OF; 6' 1"; Senior; R/R

#6 Chris Tschida: INF; 6' 3"; Junior; R/R

#9 Roman Visintine: OF; 6' 0"; Sophomore; L/R

#17 Cord Church: OF; 6' 2"; Junior; R/R

#2 Matthew Sturchio: P; 5' 10"; Junior; R/R

#14 Nick Schrader: INF; 5' 9"; Freshman; L/R

#35 Ricky Digrugilliers: P; 6' 2"; Sophomore; R/R

#18 Conner Currier: INF; 6' 0"; Junior; R/R

Players Mentioned

#16 Colan Borchers
: 6' 3"; Sophomore; R/R
: RHP

#42 Sam Cottingham-Beard
: 6' 2"; Sophomore; R/R
: RHP

#12 Adam McGinnis
: 5' 11"; Junior; R/R
: C

#22 Nathan Pollock
: 6' 1"; Senior; R/R
: OF

#6 Chris Tschida
: 6' 3"; Junior; R/R
: INF

#9 Roman Visintine
: 6' 0"; Sophomore; L/R
: OF

#17 Cord Church
: 6' 2"; Junior; R/R
: OF

#2 Matthew Sturchio
: 5' 10"; Junior; R/R
: P

#14 Nick Schrader
: 5' 9"; Freshman; L/R
: INF

#35 Ricky Digrugilliers
: 6' 2"; Sophomore; R/R
: P

#18 Conner Currier
: 6' 0"; Junior; R/R
: INF