THE LEAD
No. 13  Dallas Baptist fell 5-4 in game one of a three-game series versus Missouri State at Hammons Field in Springfield, Missouri, on Thursday night.  After defeating the Bears seven times in 2014, including five wins by one run, the Patriots were handed their first one-run loss this season.  Down 5-1 going into the seventh inning, back-to-back home runs from Trooper Reynolds and Chane Lynch sparked a Patriot rally, but DBU would be unable to scratch across the tying run in the final two innings, as the Bears took the first game of the series.
 
DBU (23-4, 5-2) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when David Martinelli's two-out single brought Justin Wall in from second.  In the bottom of the third, Missouri State (19-7, 3-1) knotted the game at one apiece on an RBI triple by Tate Matheny.  Tied 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth, the Bears touched Patriot starter, Joseph Shaw, for another run when Justin Paulsen laced a single with two outs back through the middle, scoring Spencer Johnson from second. 

The Bears would open their lead up to four in the sixth, highlighted by a two-run double by Jake Burger off of DBU reliever, Chance Adams.  Trailing by four in the top of the seventh, the Patriots were finally able to get to Missouri State starter, Matt Hall.  The MSU starter, who had allowed just one run and struck out eight through the first six innings, allowed a one-out double to Daniel Salters, followed by a two-run towering blast over the wall in left by Trooper Reynolds.  After Reynolds' blast, Chane Lynch lifted one over the wall in left for his first home run of the year, cutting the deficit to one. 
 
Down 5-4 in the eighth, the Patriots put runners at first and third, but a ground out to third off the bat of Reynolds resulted in the final out and kept the score at 5-4.  In the ninth, the Patriots were retired in order by the Bryan Young, as the Bears' closer recorded his fifth save of the season.
 
DBU HEAD COACH, DAN HEEFNER – ON THE MISTAKES ON THE BASES
"The most frustrating thing is the mistakes we made on the bases.  We were thrown out four times on the bases, twice we were picked off at first base and two times we were thrown out at third.  Against a team like Missouri State, the little things matter, and you're not going to win in game one of a series when you do those type of things on the bases."
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
6 – Trooper Reynolds hit his sixth home run of the year, which is one behind David Martinelli for the team lead.
4 – Number of Patriots with multi-hit games (Chane Lynch, David Martinelli, Daniel Salters, & Justin Wall)
20 – Justin Wall has now reached base safely in a team-best 20 straight games.
 
UP NEXT
DBU and Missouri State meet in game two of the series on Friday at 6:30 pm.