It looked like it would be a long day early on for Eastern sophomore right-hander Matt Miller.

With the wind blowing out strongly to left, Bradley junior second baseman Matt Fritz went yard to deep left field to lead off the game and give Bradley the early 1-0 lead. Two batters later, senior center fielder Nick Mitidiero hit a mammoth shot to left that nearly put a hole in the scoreboard. Most pitchers would be shaken, but instead Miller settled in. After the hiccup early in the game, Miller allowed no more earned runs and one more hit in 4 1/3 innings of work. He had three strikeouts and three walks in his longest appearance of the season.

“I just missed on a few pitches in the first inning,” Miller said. “After that, I just settled in and everything felt good.”

After the second home run, Miller got himself into a self-made jam. He hit a batter, and then walked the next.

He was able to force a groundball to the next batter and strikeout the batter after that.

In the third, Miller was in another tough situation. An error put a runner on third with no outs. But Miller limited the damage with help from a runner caught stealing by red-shirt freshman catcher Ben Thoma.

Miller was in cruise control in the next two innings. He went three up, three down in the second, forcing a groundout and two pop outs to third. In the fourth, Miller stuck out two, one looking, and forced a groundout while hitting one batter.

Miller, who had only started one previous game in his Eastern career, a three-inning start against Monmouth College last season, said this game was much better than his last starting appearance.

“I was a little nervous about the game, but it wasn’t too bad, just some first game jitters,” he said. “I just got to keep working and keep the ball down I guess just keep working hard.”

After the game, Eastern head coach Jim Schmitz said he was pleased with how Miller pitched.

“After setting down in the first inning, I was really impressed with him,” Schmitz said.

Schmitz has mentioned that Miller will be needed later in the season and Miller proved he has the stuff and moxie to help out Schmitz if he is needed.

Dan Cusack can be reached at 581-7944 or at [email protected].