THE LEAD
DBU won their third Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title in four years after defeating Illinois State, 10-6, in the MVC championship game at Hammons Field, in Springfield, Missouri, on Sunday.  With the game tied at six apiece in the ninth inning, Devlin Granberg's single into right plated the eventual game-winning run and ignited a four-run inning for the Patriots, before Travis Stone closed the door on the Redbirds by retiring the side in the order in the bottom of the ninth.  The win for DBU (40-19) sends the Patriots to their fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Patriots threatened early against Illinois State (16-40) starter Jeff Barton, but Barton was able to pitch around base runners in each of the first five innings. Barton forced two doubleplay groundballs in the first three innings and then pitched around two baserunners to open the fourth inning by inducing two popouts to end the frame. On the other side, Johnson was outstanding in his first five chances, allowing only one hit into the sixth inning.
 
It was the sixth inning that saw the DBU offense finally come alive and they did all the damage with two outs. After the first two batters of the inning reached, Evan Sandmann put down his second sacrifice bunt of the day, but his work was followed by an infield popup for the second out. The Redbirds elected to walk Garrett Wolforth with first base open to face Jon Skidmore and Skidmore plated the first run of the day for DBU when a fastball grazed the left sleeve of his jersey for a hit by pitch.
 
Jameson Hannah pushed the lead to three with a groundball through the right side and forced a pitching change for the Redbirds as Jeff Lingdren came in to face Devlin Granberg with two aboard. Granberg greeted the right-hander by taking his first pitch fastball over the right field fence for a three-run homerun to double the lead to six.
 
Granberg's three RBI loomed large as Illinois State was able to scratch for three runs in their half of the sixth. Three straight groundball singles spelled the end of the day for Johnson and plated the first run for the Redbirds. With Dalton Higgins on the mound, a hit batter and then an error on a potential double play ball pushed two more across for the Redbirds and left the game at 6-3 into the final third of the contest.
 
After the Patriots stranded runners in scoring position again in the seventh inning, the Redbirds answered with runners at second and third with one out in the bottom of the inning. Dan Heefner went to the bullpen once again and brought in the all-time saves leader at DBU to try to hold the lead. Seth Elledge struck out the first batter he faced with a 3-2 fastball and followed that, after a walk to load the bases, with a flyball to Sandmann in right to end the threat.
 
DBU left the bases loaded again in the eighth inning, which opened the door for a Redbirds' comeback in the bottom of the inning. Two walks by Elledge would eventually bring the tying run to the plate and with two out, Noah Sadler blasted a two-strike pitch over the wall in the right to tie game at six.
 
In the top of the ninth, DBU's Garrett Wolforth led the inning off with an infield single.  Jon Skidmore then looked to lay down a bunt and advance Wolforth to second when Redbirds' reliever Matt Walker's throw was wide of first, putting two on for the Patriots with nobody out.  After Jameson Hannah popped out on a bunt attempt and Wolforth and Skidmore each moved up a base on a wild pitch, Granberg laced a single past a drawn in infield to right field, to plate the go-ahead run. 
 
Two batters later, Matt Duce brought in another run on a sacrifice fly to right, as Skidmore slid in under the tag of Illinois State's Nick Zouras.  Tim Millard then followed suit with a two-run double to right-center, extending the Patriot lead to four.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, Travis Stone came out of the pen to retire the side in order.  With two out, Derek Parola hit a sharp groundball to the left side where Tim Millard made a diving stab and threw out Parola to clinch the MVC Tournament title.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- DBU's Devlin Granberg was named the MVC Tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
- The Patriots placed four players on the All-Tournament team including Matt Duce, Devlin Granberg, Jameson Hannah, and Tim Millard.
- DBU is 22-4 over their last 26 games.  The only team in the nation with a better record over their last 26 games is top-ranked Oregon State, who has gone 23-3 over that span.
 
DBU HEAD COACH DAN HEEFNER ON WINNING THE MVC TITLE
"It wasn't the cleanest game, but we really came through when we needed to there in the ninth.  You have to tip your cap to Illinois State.  They were tough throughout the tournament and we had to earn it today.  Going into the ninth, we had to trust our offense and they were able to produce when the game was on the line."
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
40 - As of right now, DBU is one of only five teams in the nation to have four consecutive 40-win seasons, as they join Florida, Louisville, LSU, and TCU on that elite list.
10 - Devlin Granberg finished the tournament with 10 hits (10-for-20) with nine RBI.
6 -  Six Patriots finished with multi-hit games as Camden Duzenack, Devlin Granberg, Jameson Hannah, Austin Listi, Tim Millard, and Garrrett Wolforth each collected two hits apiece.
 
ALL-MVC TOURNAMENT TEAM
C – Dominic Bifano, Indiana State
1B – Jeff Zahn, Indiana State
2B – Derek Parola, Illinois State
3B – Tim Millard, DBU
OF – Devlin Granberg, DBU
OF – Jameson Hannah, DBU
OF – Hunter Steinmetz, Missouri State
DH – Matt Duce, DBU
UT – Nick Zouras, Illinois State
P – Brady Huffman, Illinois State
P – Jake Fromson, Missouri State
 
MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER – Devlin Granberg, DBU
 
UP NEXT
DBU advances to the NCAA Tournament, which is scheduled to begin on Friday.  The Patriots will find out where they will travel to when the field of 64 is announced on ESPN 2 on Monday at 11 a.m.