THE LEAD
Colin Poche picked up his sixth win of the season and Seth Elledge earned his 10th save with two innings of work, as the DBU hurlers helped the Patriots (28-12, 8-1) to their league-leading eighth conference win of 2016 with a 4-3 win over Bradley (18-16, 3-6) at Dozer Park in Peoria. The Patriots scored three runs in the first two innings against Bradley starter Matt Dennis, added a run on a solo homerun in the fourth, and held on without the benefit of a hit the rest of the way in the first game of a Friday twin bill against the Braves.
 
It did not take long for the Patriot offense to give Poche runs to work with as they scored two in the first inning and one in the second. Darick Hall crushed his fifteenth homerun of the season to score Trooper Reynolds in the opening frame and Matt Duce plated Luke Stratman with a single in the second for the early 3-0 lead.
 
Bradley scored a run off Poche in the third as a one-out walk came across the plate after a double and a two-out wild pitch, however, in the fourth inning, Austin Listi notched his third homerun in the last three games with a line drive shot to left to reinstate a three run lead. That would hold until the 6^th when Poche gave up the third hit of the day to Paul Solka as the right hander deposited a ball over the left field wall to cut the DBU lead to two.
 
After the Listi homerun, the DBU offense could hardly muster a base runner against Bradley reliever Ben Olson. Olson came into the game allowing over a hit an inning but, on this day, he was spectacular, holding DBU to only one baserunner in fiveinnings of work. That baserunner came in the sixth inning on a walk to Duce but, other than the Patriot backstop, the lanky lefthander did not allow any other runners to reach.
 
Elledge came on in a big situation in the eighth. Higgins was unable to record an out in his outing after a hit, an error, and a walk loaded the bases. The NCBWA Stopper of the Year candidate entered with those three runners aboard and nobody out and struck out the first batter he faced. He then recorded the second out on  a soft tapper to the right side of the infield to score the third run of the game for Bradley but got pinch hitter Ian Kristan to pop out to take a one-run lead to the final inning.
 
Elledge worked around a one-out single and a two-out hit batter in the ninth to secure the win and help the Patriots increase their lead in the Missouri Valley Conference standings. The two teams will turn around and play the second game of the doubleheader in a contest being streamed on ESPN3. DBU fans call also listen to the call on the Patriot Broadcasting Network
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- With the win, DBU is now a league-best 8-1 in the MVC.
- The Patriots have won six straight games in Peoria, Illinois, dating back to the 2012 season.
- Darick Hall's 15 home runs are the seventh most by a Patriot in a single-season in their Division I history dating back to 2004.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
3 – Three hits for the Patriot offense in the win
2 – Two of those hits came with runners in scoring position
2 – Two innings of work from Seth Elledge, his longest of the season

UP NEXT
DBU faces Bradley in game two of the doubleheader starting at 6:15 p.m.