THE RUNDOWN
No. 25 DBU (18-9, 1-0) used some late offense to cruise to a 9-4 win over Illinois State (10-14, 1-3) in the Patriot's Missouri Valley Conference opener in at Duffy Bass Field in Normal, Illinois. Kragen Kechely was outstanding out of the bullpen for DBU to pick up his second win of the season. Devlin Grandberg had another multi-hit day, his 14th of the season, while Blayne Jones collected three hits and scored two runs. DBU used a seven-run seventh inning to put the game out of reach late while three Patriot pitchers combined to strike out seven Redbird batters.
 
Playing in 34 degree temperatures at first pitch, the Patriots had to play from behind early as the Redbirds scored an unearned run off starter MD Johnson in the third inning on two hits and a throwing error from the outfield. Johnson wound up giving the Patriots 3.2 innings before being lifted with two aboard in the fourth inning for Kragen Kechely. Kechely fanned the only batter he faced in the fourth to keep the deficit at a single run. The sophomore righthander stayed on the mound through the eighth inning, throwing 4.1 innings out of the bullpen, allowing one run on two hits while striking out five.
 
After the big strikeout by Kechely, the Patriot offense finally came alive in the fifth inning as DBU plated two runs on two singles, a double, and a wild pitch. Devlin Granberg picked up the first RBI with a single to center that scored Blayne Jones, who had singled.  Jameson Hannah followed suit with a double,  extending his career-high hit streak to 28 games, and then trotted home from third on a one out wild pitch.
 
The Patriots loaded the bases in the 7th inning with one out, but were unable to score before finally adding insurance in a big way the next inning. Two walks, five hits, and a Tim Millard triple led to seven runs to put the game away for DBU. With a 9-1 lead to the bottom of the eighth, Kechely allowed his only run of the game before Parker Towns came on in the ninth and allowed two runs on three hits to get the game to the final score.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Since joining the MVC in 2014, DBU is 5-0 in their conference opener.
- The Patriots have won six straight for the first time since they won the final two games of the regular-season last year and then won all four games at the MVC Tournament.
- Kragen Kechely set a career-high in innings pitched (4.2) and and matched his career-high in strikeouts (5).
 
DBU HEAD COACH ON KECHELY'S PERFORMANCE OUT OF THE PEN
"Kragen did an outstanding job on a day that we really needed it when we had a short start from MD.  He gave us everything we could have asked out of him."
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
40 - Devlin Granberg drove in two runs to reach 40 RBI on the season.
6 - The bottom part of DBU's lineup that included Garrett Wolforth, Luke Bandy, and Blayne Jones accounted for six hits.
3 - The Patriots stole three bases, all in the eighth inning.
 
UP NEXT
DBU faces Illinois State in game two of their series on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.