Bears head coach Keith Guttin was the first to admit that Forrest Barnes might have had his worst start of the season less than a week ago.
Needing a win with the hope of avoiding the play-in round of the Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Tournament, Barnes was hit around immediately as he exited in 2.2 innings of action while giving up eight earned runs on eight hits at Bradley.
With the lights shining the brightest on the conference tournament stage, Barnes had a complete turnaround — which might be why Guttin thought his performance on Wednesday night was even more special.