Box Score

The Dallas Baptist Baseball Team held on for a 6-4 win over Wichita State and clamed the series on Sunday at Eck Stadium in Wichita, Kansas.  The victory places DBU alone in third place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings, with one league series remaining next weekend versus Southern Illinois. The series win on the road this weekend over the Shockers also builds on the Patriots' bid for a trip to the NCAA Regional Tournament.

"We don't talk with our guys about must win situations, but we knew  going into today's game that we needed this one, especially at this point of the season and I was proud of how our team competed and was able to close this one out," DBU Head Baseball Coach, Dan Heefner said.

Picking up where they left off yesterday offensively, DBU (33-18, 11-7) rattled off 16 hits, led by a 4-for-4 day from senior, Mike Wesolowki.  The bulk of the damage on the afternoon came from the two through five hitters in the Patriot lineup.  The combination of Wesolowski, Daniel Salters, Austin Listi, and David Martinelli, combined to go 10-for-18 on the day, while driving in all six runs. 

After DBU fell behind 1-0 in the bottom of the first on a solo homerun by Dayne Parker, his second of the series, the Patriots answered with a three run third inning.  Dealing with 35 mile per hour winds howling to left field throughout the day, the first Patriot run came on a bloop double to shollow left that Micah Green could not get to.  Fooled by the wind, Green's late jump on the ball and a missed diving attempt ,led to a Listi double that scored two runs.  Martinelli followed with a double laced down the right field line that easily plated Listi from second.

In the bottom of the third, Wichita State (26-26, 10-8) cut the Patriot lead to one, when Casey Gillaspie ripped a double off of Patriot starter, Cory Taylor, scoring Parker from first.

DBU answered the Shockers' run with two of their own in the fifth.  A Salters triple, crushed to the center field wall, scored Wesolowski from first.  Listi followed with a single to left, scoring Salters and extending the Patriot lead to 5-2.

A Wesolowski single in the sixth scored one more run, giving DBU a 6-2 edge in the sixth.  Joseph Shaw, who entered in relief of Taylor in the fifth, worked a scoreless sixth, before allowing two run s on a homerun off the bat of Wichita State's, Chase Simpson. 

Holding on to a 6-4 advantage, the Patriots looked to closer Brandon Koch to finish off the Shockers.  Koch, who entered the game with two outs in the seventh, worked out of a critical jam in the bottom of the eighth.  With runners at first and second and two outs, Koch struck out Simpson to end the inning. 
In the ninth, Koch retired the side in order to preserve the Patriot win and earn his team-leading eight save of the season.  Koch's eight saves are themost by a DBU reliever since Stuart Pudenz saved eight games in 2012

With the win, DBU remains three games behind Evansville for first place in the conference and two back of Indiana State.  The Patriots have one more conference series remaining with Southern Illinois beginning next Thursday, before the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament begins on May 20.