THE LEAD
DBU was eliminated in the title game of the Fort Worth Regional in a 14-2 loss to No. 6 TCU on Monday night at Lupton Stadium in Fort Worth. The Patriots' pitching paid the price for giving up 10 bases-on-balls, which led to a number of big innings that allowed the Horned Frogs to build a commanding lead.
 
Gavin Fritz (0-1) was one of the main culprits as one of two DBU pitchers to record a trio of walks. Fritz was responsible for three runs in the second inning before recording an out but did strike out a pair of TCU batters. Brian Howard (10-3) earned the win after tossing 6 2/3 innings of two-run baseball with three walks and three strikeouts.
 
Matt Duce gave DBU an early cushion with a two-run home run off Howard over the right field wall to go ahead 2-0 before Fritz even stepped foot on the mound. After facing the minimum in the opening frame with a pair of strikeouts, Fritz loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the second on a pair of walks and a hit by pitch that forced him out of the game. Coach Dan Heefner opted for reliever Jimmy Fouse, who gave up a two-run single to Connor Wanhanen to even it up at 2-2. In the ensuing at-bat Fouse induced a 6-3 double play that brought home a third run.
 
In the bottom of the third inning, TCU threatened again with the bases loaded against Fouse, who allowed another two-run single to Nolan Brown that extended the Horned Frog lead to 5-2. After a groundout allowed a sixth run to cross the plate, Heefner went to his pen again for Coby Weaver. TCU tacked on three more in the inning, highlighted by a two-run blast from Josh Watson. Following an inning in which he retired the side in order with a pair of strikeouts, Weaver walked the bases loaded in the fifth, forcing Heefner to go to another reliever in Dalton Higgins. He retired the final two batters of the inning, but not before the Frogs made it 10-2 with an RBI groundout.
 
Higgins began the sixth by allowing back-to-back singles before Evan Skoug stepped up to the plate and sent a 1-0 pitch over the center-field wall to give the Horned Frogs a commanding 13-2 lead. TCU loaded the bases again in the sixth, chasing Higgins out of the game. Reliever Trevor Conn walked in a 14^th run and struck out the final batter of the inning. A Nolan Brown RBI single produced the eventual final score of 15-2 in the bottom of the seventh. DBU picked up a consolation run in the ninth on a solo home run off the bat of Devlin Granberg that made it 15-3.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 - DBU's 13 homeruns in the Fort Worth Regional are more than TCU's opponents hit in 29 regular season games at Lupton Stadium this season (12).
 - Matt Duce had the only multi-hit game of any Patriot, hitting 3-for-4 with the first-inning two-run home run. 
 - Patriot hitters went 6-for-10 in leadoff situations, while TCU was held to 2-of-8 hitting in the leadoff spot. 

DBU HEAD COACH DAN HEEFNER ON THE 2017 SEASON
"When you look at the second half of the year, this group really improved and pulled together as a team.  We were at a pretty low point at the midway point of the season, so to get to this point and reach a regional final, and win 40-plus games, it's something the guys will be proud of when they look back on this season."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
13 – The Patriots' pitching staff walked a season-high 13 batters in the loss.
14 – DBU allowed 14 unanswered runs after Duce's first inning homerun. 
1 - Duce's home run marked the only hit in the game with runners on base for the Patriots.