THE LEAD
No. 25 DBU jumped out to an early lead and held on to defeat Oral Roberts 8-5 Saturday to earn its third series win of the year. Devlin Granberg drove in a career-high five runs and went 4-for-5 at the plate. Redshirt freshman Luke Eldred turned in another solid start in a winning effort.

Eldred (3-1) struck out four batters and for the fourth straight start did not walk a batter. He allowed two runs on four hits, both tied for his season high, throwing 77 pitches.

Matt Duce drove in the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the first inning that scored Jameson Hannah. Granberg drove in three more with his third home run of the year in the second inning.

A Cal Hernandez sac fly and a Noah Cummings RBI single produced the only two runs Eldred would allow in the third. DBU got one back on a Jimmy Glowenke sac fly in the bottom of the inning.

Hannah picked up an RBI with a fifth-inning single and was one of two runners to score on Granberg's two-run single. The Patriots' eight runs were the most allowed in a single game by ORU (7-5) starter Miguel Ausua (1-1) this season.

The Golden Eagles scored three times in the eighth as Riley Keizor hit a two-run double and came around to score on a wild pitch. Parker Towns picked up his first save of 2018, working around a one-out single to lock down the game.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 - Sean Boyle struck out five batters in two scoreless innings of relief.
 - Hannah extended his hitting streak to 14 games, dating back to the 2017 season.
 - Granberg recorded his third straight multi-hit game. He is 7-10 with eight RBI through the first two games of the series with ORU.

COACH DAN HEEFNER ON THE PATRIOTS' OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
"I thought we did a really good job at the start of the game. It's great to have Devlin Granberg swinging it the way he is and Jameson's going really good as well. I thought Matt Duce squared up a couple balls and Blayne Jones had a good day today at the plate too. I'm real proud of their approach, and we're starting to hit our stride a little bit."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
20.2 – Eldred has pitched 20.2 innings without allowing a walk to start his career.
.330 – DBU is 35-for-106 at the plate in its last three games.
13 – Patriot pitching struck out 13 batters and has fanned 10 or more in six of its last seven games. The one exception was a nine-strikeout game against Air Force on March 3.

UP NEXT
DBU and Oral Roberts conclude the weekend series Sunday at Horner Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.