PEORIA, Ill. – After rain delayed the start of the game, Bradley defeated Wichita State 6-5 in game one of a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series.
 
Noah Croft went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a double, while Alex Jackson went 2-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI, Greyson Jenista went 2-for-3 and Willie Schwanke went 2-for-4 with a double.
 
Starter Zach Lewis pitched six innings and gave up three earned runs on seven hits with one walk and four strikeouts.
 
Jenista led off the game with an infield single and he stole second. Travis Young sacrificed him to third and Alec Bohm's sacrifice fly brought him home for a 1-0 Shocker lead.
 
The Braves took the lead in the second. Derek Bangert led off the inning with a single and with one out, Andrew Avelia was hit by a pitch. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch and Brendan Dougherty doubled to right field to drive in both for a 2-1 Braves lead.
 
BU added to the lead in the third inning. The Braves used four hits and a Shocker error to score two runs and take a 4-1 lead.
 
The Shockers cut into the lead in the fourth. Jackson doubled with one out and scored on a two-out error. Croft's two-out double scored Luke Ritter, who reached on the error, to cut the lead to 4-3.
 
A hit batsman, single and Shocker error gave the Braves a 5-3 lead in the fifth, but the Shockers answered in the sixth. With one out, Ritter singled and pinch runner Dayton Dugas stole second and third before Jordan Boyer's two-out double scored Dugas to cut the lead to 5-4.
 
The Braves added one more run in the seventh and WSU used back-to-back doubles in the ninth for the final 6-5 score.
 
The Shockers and Braves play game two of the series on Sat., April 15 at 2 p.m.