Box Score

The Dallas Baptist Patriot Baseball Team picked up a win over South Dakota State University on Saturday morning, defeating the Jackrabbits, 5-2. The win improves the Patriots to 5-2 on the season.

Senior Jared Stafford clinched his second win of the season after pitching a complete game and allowing only two runs on eight hits. The right-handed pitcher from Keller, Texas, also struck out eight batters while only walking one.

The Patriots were first on the board in the bottom of the third, thanks to a pair of Jackrabbit errors. Sophomore Duncan McAlpine reached on an error by the first baseman and later scored in the inning on a bad toss from the Jackrabbits pitcher, making it a 1-0 lead for the Patriots.

One inning later, Senior Jason Krizan led off with a single up the middle and then advanced to second on a single by Junior Joel Hutter, giving DBU two men on with no outs. Junior Ryan Behmanesh then advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt, followed by a RBI groundout by Junior Kenny Hatcher to make it a 2-0 lead.

South Dakota State picked up their first run in the top half of the sixth and followed with another in the seventh to tie the game at two runs apiece.

However, the Patriots quickly regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh, thanks to a leadoff triple from Sophomore Austin Elkins. McAlpine picked up the RBI on the very next at bat with a sacrifice fly to right field, giving the Patriots the go-ahead run.

After Stafford struck out two and forced a groundout in the eighth, the Patriots sealed the game in the bottom half of the inning. Elkins picked up his 11th and 12th RBI of the season with a single up the middle that scored Krizan and Behmanesh, leaving DBU with the 5-2 lead.

Stafford made quick work of the Jackrabbits in the ninth, retiring three of the four batters he faced, and sealing Patriots' fifth win of the season.

DBU will face the TCU Horned Frogs on Tuesday evening at Lupton Stadium in Fort Worth. The first pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m.