THE LEAD
An offensive explosion propelled DBU to a 17-2 series-opening win over Brown on Friday at Horner Ballpark. Kody Funderburk and Tim Millard each hit two home runs, and Jameson Hannah finished a double shy of the cycle in the Patriots' most prolific offensive output of 2018.

MD Johnson (4-1) earned his third straight win, allowing two runs on five hits through five innings of work with seven strikeouts and one walk. He faced some early turbulence, allowing runs in each of the first two innings, but bounced back to strike out six of the final eight Brown (3-6) batters he faced. 

The Patriots (10-6) fell behind 1-0 early, but responded with a three-run first inning. Devlin Granberg followed Hannah's leadoff triple with an RBI single and scored on Matt Duce's first home run of 2018. Duce drove in a run with a second-inning single and scored on Millard's first blast of the night. Blayne Jones plated Funderburk with a single for the Patriots' only run of the third inning. 

Evan Sandmann and Millard led off the fifth inning with back-to-back jacks. Hannah's two-run dinger capper a four-run, three-homer frame for the Patriots. An RBI single by Sandmann drove home the only tally of the sixth. Millard's second tater of the night, a three-run long ball, extended the DBU lead to 15-2 in the seventh. Funderburk touched 'em all for the second time in the eighth with a solo blast that cleared the trees beyond the right field fence. Jimmy Glowenke's sacrifice fly drove home the game's final run.

Jarod Bayless, JT Penick, and Trevor Conn combined for four innings of shutout relief with three strikeouts and two walks. 
 

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 - The Patriots improved to 4-0 on Fridays at Horner Ballpark this season.
 - Hannah extended his hitting streak to 17 games, dating back to the 2017 season. Duce has reached base in every game this year and has reached safely in 69 of his last 73.
 - Ten different Patriots collected hits, eight drove in runs, and five had at least two RBI.

COACH DAN HEEFNER ON THE PATRIOTS' OFFENSIVE SHOWING
"It was great to bounce right back in the first after giving up a run. Jameson leads off with a triple, and we just had good at-bat after good at-bat. It's definitely good to see. We've had high expectations for our offense, and we needed to get some of these guys going. Hopefully this was the day."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
7 – DBU's seven home runs were its most since April 21, 2007, in a 31-8 win over UT Pan American.
3 – Duce's three RBI doubled his season total.
1.073 – The Patriots batted .463 (19-41) as a team Friday night and slugged 1.073.
2 - The Bears manged only two hits in the final six innings of the game.
7 - DBU scored in seven of eight innings in which it hit.

UP NEXT
DBU and Brown take the field for Game 2 on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 at Horner Ballpark, with Luke Eldred (3-1, 1.74 ERA) taking the mound for the Patriots against the Bears' Collin Garner (1-0, 2.70).