THE LEAD
DBU defeated Evansville 6-5 on Friday night at Horner Ballpark in a battle between the Missouri Valley Conference's top two schools. Designated hitter Justin Wall went 3-for-5 and scored the go-ahead run during the Patriots' sixth-inning rally.
 
Starting pitcher Colin Poche (7-0) threw six innings and struck out four Purple Aces to pick up the win. Patrick Schnieders (4-4) suffered the loss after giving up six runs on 10 hits in 5.2 innings. Closer Seth Elledge (11) picked up the save with one inning of perfect baseball and two strikeouts.
 
The Aces plated three unearned runs in the top of the third inning, led by a two-run homerun by Trey Hair, after a throwing error by shortstop Trooper Reynolds extended the inning. Evansville extended the lead to 4-0 in the fourth when Korbin Williams scored on Shain Showers' groundout. The Patriots responded in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single off the bat of catcher Matt Duce to trim the lead to 4-1.
 
Evansville went up 5-1 in the sixth inning after Korbin Williams sent a long fly ball over the centerfield wall. DBU answered again with a five-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning, fueled by RBI doubles from rightfielder David Martinelli and centerfielder Jameson Hannah.
 
COACH DAN HEEFNER – ON THE COMEBACK
"I think our team has shown a lot of character this season. It speaks to their resiliency and playing the game all the way through. Proud of the guys, and the bullpen did a super job for us."
 
JAMESON HANNAH – ON THE SIXTH-INNING RALLY
"The whole team put together really good at bats. My main focus was to put some pressure on the defense, and I got a nice knock and brought two runs in."
 
HANNAH – ON THE DUGOUT ATMOSPHERE
"The whole dugout had confidence we were going to come through and win this game. We were focusing on putting good swings on the ball."
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 -  When Colin Poche takes the mound, the Patriots are now 11-1.
 - DBU's 3-4-5 hitters went 6-for-14 with three RBIs and three runs scored.
 - The Patriots' pitching staff held Evansville to 1-for-7 hitting with runners in scoring position.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
100 – Martinelli scored his 100^th career run in Friday's victory.
5 – Poche's five walks were the most allowed by the left-hander this season.
8 – In the past two games, DBU has scored eight runs in the sixth inning to come from behind.
 
UP NEXT FOR THE PATRIOTS
DBU and Evansville square off in game two of the weekend series on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Horner Ballpark. Darick Hall (5-3) takes the mound for the Patriots against Brent Jurceka (5-2) of the Aces.