THE LEAD
No. 16 Dallas Baptist staved off a comeback in the bottom of the ninth by No. 23 Oklahoma to knock off the Sooners, 7-5, on Tuesday night at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman, Oklahoma.  Leading by two runs with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, a soft tapper in front of the mound off the bat of Chris Shaw resulted in a double play ball to end the game and handed the Patriots their eighth straight victory over the Sooners.
 
Leading the way offensively for DBU (27-7) was junior, Daniel Salters, who put together a 4-for-5 night at the plate.  The Patriots' catcher from Eufuala, Oklahoma, who returned to his home state tonight, doubled, stole a base, and also picked off a base runner to lead DBU's efforts in a key win on the road.

Scoreless in the bottom of the third, Oklahoma (24-15) struck for the game's first two runs off of Patriot reliever, Gavin Fritz.  Two walks issued in the inning led to the pair of Sooner runs, as Craig Aikin delivered the big hit with an RBI double.

DBU cut into the Oklahoma lead in the fourth when Salters came home to score on a wild pitch.  The Patriots would miss out on an opportunity with the bases loaded and one out in the inning when Nash Knight hit into an inning-ending double play.

Down 2-1 into the top of the sixth, DBU struck for three runs to take their first lead of the night.  A Chane Lynch double tied the game at two apiece, followed by a pair of fielders choice grounds out from Trooper Reynolds and Daniel Sweet that plated two runs, giving the Patriots a 4-2 advantage.

DBU would add three more insurance runs in the eighth, as an RBI single from David Martinelli, followed by a two-run single from Nash Knight extended the lead to 7-2.

On the mound, Drew Smith came out of the pen to cool off the Sooner bats, tossing three-and-one-third innings of scoreless relief, before allowing two runs to score in the bottom of the eighth.

Leading 7-4 going into the bottom of the ninth, Patriot closer, Brandon Koch, gave up back-to-back singles to open the inning, before walking the next two batters, as the DBU lead was trimmed to 7-5.  With the bases loaded and the winning run on first, Koch struck out Austin O'Brien before getting Chris Shaw to ground out into a double play to end the game.

DBU HEAD COACH, DAN HEEFNER – ON BEATING OKLAHOMA ON THE ROAD
"That was a big win for us, especially considering the adversity we've faced the last couple of weeks.  It was closer than we would have liked there in the ninth, but you have to trust your guys in the end and they came through."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
2 – Trevor Conn made his first start in the last two weeks and worked two scoreless innings.
15 – Tagg Duce recorded his team-leading 15th multi-hit game this year.
12 – Number of runners left on-base by Oklahoma.
 
UP NEXT FOR THE PATRIOTS
DBU returns to Horner Ballpark this weekend for a three-game series versus Indiana State.  Game one of the series on Friday is scheduled for 6:30 pm.