THE LEAD
No. 15 Dallas Baptist completed a three-game sweep of Southern Illinois with a 7-4 win over the Salukis on Sunday at "Itchy" Jones Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois.  A two-run home run by Justin Wall in the top of the ninth opened up a three-run lead for the Patriots and Brandon Koch closed the door on SIU by striking out the side in the final frame to notch his 10th save of the season.
 
Making his second career start, Sean Stutzman worked six innings and allowed just two runs, while matching a career-high with six strikeouts.  Aside from the third inning in which he allowed two runs, the junior lefty retired the side in order in five of his six innings on the mound.
 
Scoreless in the top of the third, DBU (32-9, 13-5) struck first on a two-run double by Daniel Salters, as the Patriots' junior catcher extended his streak to six games. 
 
Leading 2-0 in the bottom of the third, Southern Illinois (10-35, 5-10) drew to within one an RBI single by Bradnen Mosely and then tied the game on a passed ball that allowed Ryan Sabo to score from third.

With the game tied at two apiece, David Martinelli blasted his team-leading eighth home run of the year, sending a two-run shot over the fence in right.  DBU added another run in the sixth when Trevin Sonnier hit a chopper over Sabo at third, allowing Martinelli to score and extend the lead to 5-2.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, the Salukis delivered four hits off of Patriot reliever, Drew Smith, including three infield singles to draw within one of the Patriots.  With Brandon Koch on the hill and two outs, a chopper over the hill by Will Farmer plated another run to cut the DBU lead to 5-4.  Koch would close out the inning though by striking out Greg Lambert on a 3-2 pitch to get out of the jam.
 
After Koch struck out the side in order in the eighth, Justin Wall gave the Patriots some breathing room when he lifted a two-run shot over the wall in right.  The home run was Wall's fifth of the year and opened up a 7-4 lead for DBU.
 
With Koch back on in the mound in the ninth, the Patriots' closer fanned all three batters he faced to close out the game.
 
DBU HEAD COACH, DAN HEEFNER – ON SEAN STUTZMAN'S OUTING TODAY
"I was really proud of how Sean competed.  He didn't have his off-speed stuff early in the game and he was able to be effective with his fastball until he found command of his slider and change-up.  There were also couple of innings where he threw just six or seven pitches and that really helped him go deeper into the game today."
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
8 – All eight outs that Brandon Koch recorded in his two appearances this weekend were strikeouts.
7 – Nash Knight finished the series with seven hits, including back-to-back three-hit games.
2 – In his first start this year, Trevin Sonnier delivered two hits, including a double.
 
UP NEXT FOR THE PATRIOTS
DBU returns home to face TCU on Tuesday night at Horner Ballpark.  First pitch is scheduled for 6;30 pm.