THE LEAD
On a sunny Saturday afternoon in Jacksonville, Florida, the DBU bullpen put together their finest outing of the 2017 season with four different pitchers throwing the final 7.2 innings of the game as the Patriot offense exploded for 18 hits to hold off the North Florida Ospreys, 9-5, at Harmon Field.  Kragen Kechely (1-0) picked up his first collegiate win after relieving Coby Weaver, who threw 4.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen.  Seth Elledge picked up his fifth save of the season by closing out the final two innings of the contest.
 
For the first time in almost a week, the Patriots (14-8) scored first.  Garrett Worforth singled to lead off the second inning and went to third on a hit-and-run single from Luke Bandy.  Evan Sandmann, making the first start of his collegiate career, jumped on the first pitch he saw and sent a flyball deep to right center that allowed Wolforth to score easily and give DBU the early lead.  That one-run lead would be short-lived, however, as UNF (16-9) answered with three runs on five hits in the bottom of the inning, spelling the end of the day for Trevor Conn and bringing Weaver to the mound for the final two outs of the inning.
 
Weaver was able to pitch around traffic in his first two full innings until the Patriot offense could muster a threat in the fifth inning.  Jameson Hannah led off the frame with a double to left center field and came around to score after a walk to Austin Listi and a base hit from Matt Duce that loaded the bases.  Wolforth put together a lengthy at-bat that resulted in an RBI base on balls and the end of the day for UNF starter Frank German.  UNF reliever Austin Howze came on and allowed an RBI single to Bandy to tie the game at three runs apiece, but the righthander escaped further damage with the bases loaded by inducing a soft line out and an infield popup to close the frame.
 
Weaver was outstanding in his 4.1 innings of relief.  The lefthander exited with a runner aboard and two out in the bottom of the sixth having allowed no runs on four hits while striking out three and allowing no base on balls.  Kragen Kechely came out of the bullpen to record the final out of the sixth inning by recording a called strikeout with the go-ahead run at second base.
 
The work of the bullpen allowed the Patriot offense a chance to take the lead in the seventh inning. Bandy and Sandmann sat on the corners after back-to-back singles and Camden Duzenack picked up the go-ahead RBI on a safety squeeze bunt.  Camryn Williams picked up an insurance run with an RBI single through the right side to score Sandmann and DBU took a 5-3 lead to the bottom of the inning.
 
Kechely recorded only two outs in his outing before being lifted with one out in the seventh inning after allowing a soft single to centerfield.  Landon Wilson came on in relief of the freshman with a man aboard to record the final two outs of the inning on a popup and a strikeout.  Those would be the only outs recorded by Wilson as Dan Heefner continued the march to the bullpen with Seth Elledge, entering the game after a leadoff single in the eighth inning and looking for a two inning save.
 
The Ospreys finally cracked the Patriot pen as a lone run came across in the eighth inning after a couple of groundballs in the infield against Elledge, but the Patriot offense made sure their closer had plenty of breathing room in the ninth as they struck for four runs in the top of the frame.  Camryn Williams headlined the inning, delivering his first collegiate homerun, while Tim Millard matched a career-high with his fifth hit of the ballgame.  Elledge allowed a couple of singles and an unearned run in the final frame, but closed out the game with a man aboard on a groundout to Millard at shortstop.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- DBU's 18 hits are the most in a single-game by the Patriots this year.
- The win over the Osprey's is the first for DBU in their six all-time meetings.
- Seth Elledge notched his 19th career save and is now six saves away from matching Chris Haney for the most saves in DBU's Division I history.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
1 – The Patriot pitching staff walked just one batter on the day.
4 – Four Patriots had multi-hit games including Tim Millard (5), Luke Bandy (3), Jameson Hannah (3), and Camryn Williams (2).
4.1 – Coby Weaver worked a career-high 4.1 shutout innings in the win.
 
UP NEXT
DBU and North Florida meet in the series finale.  First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. (EST).