THE LEAD
Six DBU Patriot pitchers combined to hold the Central Arkansas Bears to one run and four hits on Saturday afternoon in Conway, Arkansas, while the Patriot offense exploded late to win the weekend series going away, 7-1. All seven DBU (20-15) runs were scored on home runs as Austin Listi, Garrett Wolforth, and Luke Stratman struck for the solo variety, while the big blow came in the eighth inning off the bat of Matt Duce, as he put the game away with a no-doubt grand slam off UCA (19-18) reliever, Ty Tice. Dalton Higgins (5-0) picked up the win for the Patriots after recording the final out of the seventh inning with a runner aboard.
 
The DBU offense did not record their first hit until the fifth inning when Jordan Hand floated a soft single into centerfield. In spite of being no-hit early and picking up their first hit on a weak line drive, Patriot hitters made hard contact most of the afternoon off UCA starter Mark Moyer, but did so early in at-bats.
 
Through five innings, the UCA right-hander had thrown only 39 pitches before DBU finally cracked the scoreboard in the sixth. With two out and no one aboard, Austin Listi extended his at-bat by fouling off several two strike pitches before unloading on a 3-2 offering from Moyer for his 40th career homerun.
 
The Patriots scored again via a solo homerun in the eighth inning when Wolforth led off the frame by lofting a fly ball over the left field wall to give DBU a one-run lead. Stratman followed with a single to right field and Tim Millard then walked to end the day for Moyer on the mound. After a fly ball out, Stratman and Millard executed a double steal to force the Bears to intentionally walk Listi to face Matt Duce. Duce responded with his fifth homerun, and first grand slam of the season to push the Patriot lead to five with six outs to get.
 
Stratman added some insurance for DBU in the ninth with his fourth homerun of the season and Jimmy Fouse and Seth Elledge closed out the win with scoreless innings.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- After surrendering seven runs in the seventh inning on Thursday, as part of a 10-4 loss to Central Arkansas, DBU's pitching staff allowed just one run in the last two games.
- The Patriots are now 7-2 in weekend series this year.
- Dalton Higgins now leads the Patriot pitching staff in wins, as he notched his fifth victory this year.
 
DBU HEAD COACH DAN HEEFNER ON THE WAY THE TEAM RESPONDED WITH BACK-TO-BACK WINS
"We were in a pretty low spot with where we were coming into this series and how we lost game one on Thursday.  I'm proud of the guys and the character they showed in the last two games.  They keep showing up every day and they don't change and allow things to carry over from one day to the next.  I thought we pitched well the last two days and today we made some great plays behind our pitchers, so those are good signs for us going forward."
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
40 - Austin Listi's 40th career home runs place him in a tie with Jason Krizan for third place on the DBU all-time home run list.  Listi now trails only Trevor Head (45) and Duncan McAlpine (48) in career round-trippers.
14 – Dalton Higgins won his 14th career game, placing him a tie for the eighth most wins in DBU's Division I history.  Higgins is now 14-5 in 56 career appearances.
35 – Matt Duce has now reached base safely in all 35 games this season.  Duce went 1-for-3 with a grand slam and four RBIs today.
 
UP NEXT
DBU will return to Horner Ballpark on Tuesday to face the Oklahoma Sooners at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available at DBUTickets.com.