WSU baseball finds relief against Bradley with John Hayes on the mound

Relief pitching is sometimes as much about the theater of the moment as it is about throwing baseballs to the right spot.

Wichita State junior John Hayes gets that and he looks the part with a 6-foot-6 presence, razor stubble and a max-effort style that seems to rush at the hitter. Most of all, he looked like he wanted to take over the Dozer Park mound and protect a two-run lead on Friday.

“I love it,” he said. “This is my favorite part. I’d rather have a little bit of stress, little bit of pressure, little bit of a big-time situation than come in in a blowout.”

WSU needed Hayes’ best effort in a 5-3 win over Bradley to snap a five-game losing streak. He earned his first save with 3 1/3 shutout innings, striking out four and walking one, and didn’t allow a hit.

“Hayes came in and really shut the door,” WSU coach Todd Butler said. “That was as well as he’s pitched all season. He looked like he really wanted to get the save.”

WSU (14-23, 6-4 Missouri Valley Conference) defeated Bradley (24-10, 3-4) for the 20th straight time. The Shockers took a 5-0 lead, powered mostly by back-to-back home runs by Ryan Tinkham and Sam Hilliard, after the top of the third inning.

Then, much like Tuesday’s 5-4 loss at Kansas State in 10 innings, the Shockers quit scoring. Butler planned to throw Hayes that night. Instead, he stayed home to recover from about 10 hours of sickness, highlighted by vomiting, that started Monday night and continued into Tuesday.

Without Hayes, Kansas State rallied from a 4-0 deficit by chipping away at WSU’s bullpen. Hayes started to feel better on Thursday and looked fine on Friday. He overpowered the Braves with his fastball and slider and negated the left-handed bats with a changeup.

Butler hopes the rest of his bullpen watched Hayes. The Shockers struggle to hold leads because inexperienced pitchers walk too many batters and get timid around the strike zone. Hayes can’t pitch again until Sunday.

“We have one right now,” Butler said. “Maybe one of the other pitchers can see how you really close the game out. That’s the stuff you’re looking for in the eighth and ninth innings.”

“He was throwing all three pitches for a strike and it felt like we could call any pitch with confidence,” catcher Bob Arens said. “He’s a guy that’s going to go out there and do the job and that’s the way he thinks. That’s the way I try to keep him thinking, even with all that’s gone on.”

Starter Isaac Anderson went 5 2/3 innings and gave up three runs on nine hits. He struck out a season-high eight and walked three. Bradley starter Elliot Ashbeck struck out nine, but gave up 11 hits and five runs.

“He just missed some spots, and to their credit, they capitalized on any mistakes he made,” Bradley coach Elvis Dominguez said. “He elevated a couple pitches and you can’t do that against a Wichita State ballclub.”

Hilliard singled in Tanner Dearman for a 1-0 lead in the first. In the second, Ashbeck hit Chase Rader in the left hand to start the inning. He stole second and scored a two-out single by Trey Vickers.

The Braves began chipping away against Anderson. He managed to avoid major damage, but the Braves cut the lead to 5-3 and booted him from the mound with two outs in the sixth.

Anderson hit Chris Godinez to lead off the third and he scored on Spencer Gaa’s double. Second baseman Jordan Farris ended the threat, with two runners on, when he hustled after a groundball that deflected off Tinkham’s glove and threw to Tinkham for the out at first base.

Isaac Smith’s leadoff single in the fifth turned into a run on a sacrifice fly by Drew Carlile, cutting WSU’s lead to 5-2. In the sixth, Smith’s two-out single scored Carson Weber, who doubled with one out. Anderson departed after giving up a single to Gaa. Hayes bailed out the Shockers by inducing a groundball from Ian Kristan to end the inning.

Worth noting — WSU has homered in seven straight games, its longest streak since 2010, It last homered in eight straight in 2008 … Vickers, a freshman, recorded his first three-hit game … WSU third baseman Tanner Kirk started for the first time since March 27 at TCU. Kirk was hit in the cheek by a pitch in that game. He wore a batting helmet with a face guard to protect the injured area … Farris went 2 for 4, his first multi-hit game since March 22 at Southern Illinois … Butler pulled Tanner Dearman after he failed to get a bunt down in the fourth inning and replaced him with Mikel Mucha. Mucha couldn’t bunt in the sixth, then singled on an 0-2 pitch. Mucha also made two running catches in left field to end the eighth inning … While it won’t help WSU’s NCAA resume, a road win over Bradley will boost the RPI. The Braves entered the game ranked No. 9 nationally in RPI, largely on the strength of 19 wins away from home.

This story was originally published April 17, 2015 at 9:59 PM with the headline "WSU baseball finds relief against Bradley with John Hayes on the mound."