THE LEAD
The rain fell off and on most of the afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois, but it was the pitching of Southern Illinois (23-20, 6-4) that dampened the offense of DBU (25-17, 6-4) as the Patriots sputtered to a 4-1 loss to open the weekend's Missouri Valley Conference series. Ray Gaither (4-3) took the loss for the Patriots, while Chad Whitmer (5-3) picked up the win for Southern Illinois after throwing eight innings and giving up only five hits.
 
The two teams traded threats in the third inning, but both starting pitchers were able to stem the tide before runs could cross the plate. The Patriots put runners on first and second in the fourth inning with one out before sitting through a 51 minute delay due to lightning in the area. When the game resumed, Whitmer sat down the DBU offense quietly and quickly to keep the game scoreless to the bottom of the frame.
 
Gaither matched Whitmer pitch for pitch through three innings, but after the lightning delay, a span of three batters handed Gaither the loss. A leadoff double, a single, and another double plated two runs for SIU before an out was recorded and those runs proved to be more than enough for Whitmer. Will Farmer gave SIU a three-run cushion to close the fourth inning and SIU added another run off Travis Stone in the seventh inning to put the deficit at four runs.
 
Whitmer kept the Patriots scoreless until the first batter of the eighth inning as Luke Bandy blasted his second homerun of the season to left field. The Patriots would get no closer, however, as SIU closer Ryan Netemeyer came on in the ninth inning to pick up the save, his 14th of the season. Camryn Williams, in a pinch hitting role, came close to tying the game with two aboard, but his fly ball to right field was caught just short of the wall for the second out, before Bandy followed with another deep fly ball to end the game.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- The loss snaps DBU's season-high seven-game win streak.
- DBU dropped their fourth consecutive opener in a weekend series on the road.
- Five of the eight base runners DBU left on base were stranded in scoring position.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
210 – Camden Duzenack moved into a tie with Evan Bigley for the 10th most hits in DBU's Division I history with his 210th career hit.
4 – Four of the Patriots six hits went for extra bases.
7 – Austin Listi extended his current hit streak to seven games.
 
UP NEXT
DBU and Southern Illinois will meet in a doubleheader on Saturday at Itchy Jones Stadium.  First pitch for game one of the twin bill is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.