Box Score

The Dallas Baptist Patriots won their seventh consecutive game and their second straight at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in a 6-5 win over Bradley on Thursday at Bob Warn Field in Terre Haute, Indiana.  The game was a continuation of last night's contest that was postponed in the bottom of the seventh with one out and the Patriots clinging to a 6-4 advantage.  The victory pushes DBU (38-18, 14-7)ato 2-0 in the tournament and the Patriots will now await the winner of the Bradley versus Missouri State elimination game to be played later today.

Drew Turbin started the scoring for the Patriots in the top of the first with a solo homerun to right field.  Turbin, who had won the game on Tuesday over Missouri State with a walk-off homerun, picked up where he left off with his second homer of the tournament. 

Bradley would tie the game at one apiece in their half of the first on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Greg Partyka.  The Braves jumped out to a 3-1 lead on DBU starter, Paul Voelker, as two Patriot errors and a sacrifice fly from Chris Godinez led to two unearned runs.

After a Nash Knight lead-off triple in the third and a Mike Wesolwski RBI single, Daniel Salters gave DBU a 4-3 advantage when he ripped a Steve Adkins pitch over the wall in right.  The Patriots would go on to tack on a run in the fourth and one more in the sixth to take a 6-3 lead over the Braves.

Bradley would tack on a run in the seventh when a Godinez triple scored Isaac Smith all the way from first.  With lightning surrounding the park throughout the night, the game was finally halted in the seventh with one out and a runner at third.

When the game was resumed on Thursday afternoon, Patriot closer, Brandon Koch, took the hill.  After a single off the bat of Spencer Gaa plated Godinez, the right-hander settled in the rest of the way, closing out the seventh, and then retiring the side in the order in the eighth and ninth innings.  With a strikeout of Smith to close out the game, Koch earned his team-leading ninth save of the season. 

DBU will now await the winner of the Bradley and Missouri State game.  A Patriot win tomorrow would place the Patriots in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championship Game on Saturday.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
* DBU's earned their second one-run victory of the tournament and are now 14-4 overall in one-run affairs this season.
* DBU owns the second best win percentage in the nation in one-run games at .778.
* Brandon Koch made his ninth appearance this year in which he's worked two-plus innings.  In those nine outings he is 4-0 with five saves and has worked        20.1 innings without allowing a run, while striking out 36.
* Camden Duzenack's 4-for-4 day was his third four-hit game of the season and his first since Feb. 15 versus Mississippi Valley State.  That weekend, the freshman from Melissa, Texas, was named Collegiate Baseball's National Player of the Week.
* Mike Wesolowski needs one hit to collect his 100th in his two seasons with the Patriots.
* The Patriots four errors were the most by the club since DBU committed six errors at TCU on March 4 in a 5-4 loss in 15 innings.
* DBU will face either Bradley or Missouri State in the next game.  The Patriots are 6-1 versus Missouri State, including five one-run wins.  DBU is 4-0 versus Bradley.

QUOTE OF THE GAME
"We weren't sharp yesterday in the field, so to come back to the park today and be able to respond the way we did was a plus for our team.  This was a big win for us as we try to continue to build our resume for a regional birth." Dan Heefner – DBU Head Baseball Coach