TEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY @ DALLAS BAPTIST  
April 8, 2014 | Dallas, Texas | Horner Ballpark 
 
MULTIMEDIA COVERAGE
Video/Audio: Patriot Broadcasting Network
Livestats: DBU Livestats
Facebook: DBU Athletics
 
SERIES INFORMATION
Dates: April 8, 2014
Time: 6:30 PM
Stadium: Horner Ballpark (2,000)
Broadcast: Patriot Broadcasting Network
Talent: Reagan Ratcliff and Brendan Smith
 
PROBABLE STARTERS
Tuesday, April 8
TCU – Jordan Kipper RHP (3-2  5.29 ERA  32.1 IP  9 BB  31 K)
vs.
DBU – Drew Smith RHP (2-1  4.05 ERA  13.1 IP  9 BB  10 K)
 
FIRST PITCH – The Dallas Baptist Baseball Team welcomes TCU in a rematch at Horner Ballpark on Tuesday at 6:30 PM. The Patriots (23-8) watched their season-long, eight-game winning streak end on Sunday as they fell in the series finale at Illinois State.
 
DBU has won its past two mid-week contests, with wins over Stephen F. Austin and Texas Southern.  The Patriots are 3-0 in midweek contests at home and are 12-3 overall this year at Horner Ballpark.
 
After being on the road for seven of the past eight affairs, the club will enjoy consecutive home match-ups, and six of the next nine at Horner Ballpark.
 
RECENT SERIES – The Patriots improved to 5-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference after winning the first two of a double-header on Saturday at Illinois State. DBU now owns conference series wins over Bradley and Illinois State and stand alone atop the league standings.
 
On Friday, junior, Paul Voelker, and ISU's Dan Savas locked into a pitcher's duel. Savas entered undefeated with a 7-0 record, and kept the Patriots' offense in check for eight innings. The lone mistake came to redshirt sophomore, Justin Wall, who smacked a two-run shot in the fourth inning to put DBU on top. It was his second home run of the campaign.   
 
Voelker was able to hold the Redbirds offense at bay, allowing a run on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts. ISU cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the seventh inning on a wild pitch.

Sophomore, Brandon Koch, escaped a jam with runners on first and second, by striking out Brian Rodemoyer looking. The native of Plano, Texas, fanned six batters in the final 2.1 innings to earn his fourth save of the year.
 
Due to weather conditions on Friday, a doubleheader was completed on Saturday. After securing game one, the DBU offense broke out for nine runs on nine hits in the later contest of the twinbill.
 
The Patriots scored the first four runs with senior, KJ Alexander, racing home on a wild pitch in the third, and a three-run fourth.  The  Redbirds answered with their lone run of the game in the bottom of the frame.

Three more runs by the Patriots in the sixth opened the game up, and DBU tacked a run on in the seventh and eighth to claim a 9-1 win and the three-game set.
 
Junior, Cy Sneed, tossed six innings of one-run ball, scattered five hits, walked two, and struck out three.  With the win, Sneed improved to 5-1 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.01.  Sophomore, Sean Stutzman, picked up a three-inning save and also fanned three.    
 
On Sunday, sophomore, Cory Taylor, threw seven innings, giving up three runs on seven hits, while walking two and striking out three.  The lone inning in which Taylor ran into trouble came in the sixth when the Redbirds touched the right-hander for three runs.
 
Illinois State's Dylan Craig tossed a gem, limiting the Patriots to no runs on four hits and racked up 10 punch outs in eight innings.
 
With two outs in the ninth inning, back-to-back doubles by sophomore, Austin Listi, and junior, Nash Knight, put the Patriots on the board before David Suarez got KJ Alexander to ground out to second for the final out, handing DBU a 3-1 loss.
 
IMPACT PLAYERS – Freshman, David Martinelli, built a four-game hitting streak going into the weekend, and holds the highest batting average on the team at .318. He has hit safely in 14 of the past 18 games, and went 1-for-2 last week against Texas Southern at Horner Ballpark while scoring twice.   
 
Mike Wesolowski continues to rank near the top of the club in six offensive categories including:.301 average, 29 runs scored, 37 hits, seven doubles, three home runs, and 19 RBI. The first baseman has reached safely in his past nine games, and recorded a hit in eight of the last nine. Wesolowski also enters Tuesday riding a five-game hitting streak.
 
Austin Listi continues to lead the team in homeruns and ranks second on the club with 23 RBI.  The Huffman, Texas, native also owns the team's third highest slugging percentage at .440.
 
Justin Wall has gotten hot at the dish and built a season-high, six-game hitting streak that was halted on Sunday. The outfielder has seven hits in the past nine affairs, including what proved to be the game-winning homerun on Saturday's game at Illinois State.
 
The hottest hitter in the Patriot lineup over the last week has been redshirt-sophomore, Trevin Sonnier, who hit a team-leading .455 (5-for-11) in the club's last four games.  Over the four-game stretch, Sonnier reached base at a .538 clip and also played errorless baseball.
 
ON THE BUMP – Through 282.2 innings, DBU hurlers have allowed 119 runs, 90 earned, to compile a 2.87 ERA for second best mark in the MVC.  In addition, the Patriots lead the league with 281 punch outs.
 
DBU has five arms that are pitching with ERA's south of 3.00, led by Brandon Koch. Saturday's hero continues to excel in pressure situations, as he tied the club-high with four saves. The six strikeouts in the tight contest counted toward a season-high in a game.  At one point this season, the right-hander went 11-straight outings without allowing a single run. He has a 0.92 ERA and has fanned a team-high 34 among relievers.
 
Also posting a sub 2.00 ERA is redshirt senior, Josh Urban, who ranks second on the club with a 1.69 ERA.  The Austin, Texas, native, pitched a scoreless inning of relief this past Sunday and is also tied for second in the bullpen with Shaw fanning 23 opponents. Urban has tossed 21.1 innings for third amongst relievers. 
 
Sophomore, Sean Stutzman, has posted a 3.04 clip and worked 23.2 innings of multiple roles in the pen from long relief to situational lefty specialist. The native of Rolling Meadows, Illinois, worked the final three innings of a 9-1 final over Illinois State. It was his third save of the season, and second three-inning appearance to pick up one.

The midweek starter role has seen an assortment of pitchers.  Most recently, Drew Smith's start last Tuesday night at home versus Texas Southern was his first on the mound in a month.  In three innings of pre-determined work, Smith earned the win, shuting out the Tiger offense, while striking out a pair.
 
SCOUTING THE HORNFROGS – TCU (19-12) has won four in a row and eight of the last ten. The Horned Frogs made history this past weekend versus West Virginia, as it pulled a three-game conference sweep; the first ever for TCU as members of the Big 12.  
 
As a team, the offense has hit .278 on the year, with a pair of starters swinging over .300 overall. The team leader is Boomer White at a .376 clip and 47 hits, while Derek Odell has posted .330 average and is tied for second at 33.  Also matched in the hit column at 22 is Dylan Fitzgerald, who has hit .297.
 
The club doesn't rely on the long ball too much, hitting six total. Leading the club with two is Kevin Cron, and he also sits atop of the squad with 21 RBI. Boomer is right behind at 20 RBI.  
 
Pitching has also been a strength as the staff has posted a 2.82 ERA. The arms have allowed 104 runs in 280.2 innings of work.
 
Riley Ferrell has been lights out in the back-end of the bullpen, firing a team-high 29 strikeouts and four of the club's five saves. His ERA is also a team-low, 0.98.
 
SERIES HISTORY – A previous meeting between the two clubs, resulted in TCU walking off in a 15-inning, 5-4 decision. The contest took five hours and twenty-nine minutes to complete.
 
The Patriots trailed 3-0 in the sixth inning, before exploding with a four-run frame to take the lead. Sophomore, Joseph Shaw, gave up a run in the ninth as the Horned Frogs forced extra innings.
 
Eight pitchers saw action for DBU in the lengthy affair, with Taylor working four innings in the 11th-14th innings, whiile Shaw also threw three innings.
 
The Patriots tallied 12 hits, led by Martinelli with a game-high three and an Austi Listi homerun.  Daniel Salters, Wesolowski, and Wall each tallied multi-hit efforts with two apiece.
 
TCU's White went 2-for-6, one of two multi-hit displays from the team, and drove in two runs
 
In the last three meetings, TCU has taken two of three from the Patriots.  The last time the two teams met at Horner Ballpark on February 26, 2013, TCU knocked off the Patriots, 6-1. 
 
UP NEXT – Dallas Baptist continues its five-game, non-conference portion of the schedule this weekend. All opponents are in the Big 12 conference. DBU hosts Baylor on Friday, April 11 at 6:30 PM.
 
The series moves south down I-35 to Waco, Texas on Saturday and Sunday.  First pitch is at 3:05 PM on Saturday and 2:05 PM on Sunday.  
 
Following the three-game set versus Baylor, the Patriots will wrap-up the brief, three-game road trip at Texas Tech on April 15 for a 2 PM start time.