Itchy Jones Stadium held its first night game Friday, which brought 780 fans in to cheer on the Dawgs.

The Salukis (17-14, 2-4) lost the series 2-1 against the Bradley University Braves (17-10, 3-6) but coach Ken Henderson said it was one of the best crowds he has ever seen.

“We’ve had some big games over the years,” Henderson said. “But this atmosphere, this crowd was as good as I can remember and I’ve been here for 24 years. You’ve got to back a long time to see an atmosphere like this. The stadium was perfect, it was full and it was loud.”

Graduate student and former Saluki football player Cameron James tailgated before the game with several of his teammates.

“We just decided to do it for the first night game,” James said. “A bunch of us used to play football here and we’re all done (with our football careers), so we decided to come out and tailgate and support our baseball guys.”

Junior Sam Coonrod (0-4) and sophomore Elliot Ashbeck (5-0) from Bradley attracted several major league scouts for the night game, including former Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry, who now works for the New York Yankees.

Bradley took a 3-1 lead Friday after the first inning, but Ryan Casillas tied the game with a two-run home run in the third. The Salukis took a 4-3 lead in the sixth, but gave up three runs in the seventh and one run in the eighth to lose 7-4.

Freshman Dyllin Mucha said the outfield had trouble tracking down fly balls with the lights on. He said he doesn’t mind playing games at night, but if it’s hard to see the ball, he prefers to play in the daytime.

“It was kind of difficult tonight with the clouds up in the sky,” Mucha said. “It was hard to see the ball.”

Senior Todd Eaton (2-2) had his eighth start of the season Saturday, which was one of his better outings. Eaton gave up one run in six innings, which set the team up for a 6-1 win.

“He pitched to contact,” Henderson said. “That’s what you have to do and let your defense make plays.”

Parker Osborne went 2 for 5 with two RBIs and made a diving catch early in the game to limit the damage caused by the Braves in the fifth.

“Whenever Todd is on the mound, we seem to get it done for him,” Osborne said.

Eaton, who used to be the team’s closer, said he is getting used to starting and felt more comfortable pitching with a five-run lead.

“It definitely feels a lot better to be 2-3 than 1-4 in conference,” Eaton said. “To be able to give ourselves a chance to win the series is big.”

The rubber match Sunday did not go well for the Salukis. They were down seven runs before they scored their only two runs of the game.

Junior Aaron Hauge (3-2) had his worst outing of the season and gave up four runs and eight hits in the Salukis’ 7-2 loss.

“Good hitters stay the same all the time,” Henderson said. “They don’t care if the bases are loaded or if nobody’s on, they take the same approach all the time.”

Henderson said the veterans of the team must start having better at-bats. He said he is challenging them because he wants to start players who compete the most.

Mucha went 6 for 10 with 2 RBIs batting from the seventh spot. Mucha also has a seven-game hitting streak and Henderson said he doesn’t plan on moving Mucha in the lineup because it might affect him negatively, but Henderson said he has earned the starting role in center field.

Freshman Will Farmer has started seven games in a row at third base. Henderson said Farmer is a better defensive option than freshman Ryan Sabo. Farmer went 3 for 10 in the series, including a 2 for 4 outing Sunday.

“It’s a lot easier to play when you feel secure over your position,” Farmer said. “Sabo played third base incredibly well and hit lights out for a long time. Coach has got a good problem at third base, I’d say.”

Henderson said Farmer and Mucha battled well this series, and he wants to figure out a way to give freshman Connor Kopach more playing time since he is a good defender.

The Salukis play at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Southeast Missouri State University. Henderson said he plans to start freshman Austin McPheron (1-0).

Aaron Graff can be contacted at [email protected], @Aarongraff_DE or 536-3311 ext. 269