THE RUNDOWN
No. 21 DBU fell short in its bid to secure the top seed in the Missouri Valley Tournament in a 10-4 loss to Missouri State on Saturday. The Patriots allowed five runs in the first three innings and scored one run on four hits over the final six innings as they dropped two of the three games on the weekend.

Missouri State (35-15, 18-3 MVC) broke through against Luke Eldred with two runs on four first-inning singles. Matt Duce's double that bounced out of the glove of centerfielder Jack Duffy drove in Jimmy Glowenke to give the Patriots (36-17, 16-5 MVC) their first run in the bottom of the first.

The two teams traded solo home runs in the second. Hunter Steinmetz homered for MSU in the top of the frame, but Luke Bandy answered with a blast to left field. The Bears got a two-run homer in the top of the third to push the lead to 5-2. Kody Funderburk's RBI single in the bottom of the inning plated Duce to make it 5-3.

DBU and MSU exchanged solo homers again in the sixth. Devlin Granberg sent one over the batter's eye in center to answer Matt Brown's second homer of the day. Missouri State's four-run seventh inning would put the game out of reach. The Bears used two hits and two walks, along with a successful squeeze bunt, to push across four runs before the seventh inning stretch.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- The Bears will be the top seed in the MVC Tournament at Horner Ballpark next week. The Patriots will be the second seed.
- The Patriots will play No. 7 Valparaiso on Wednesday.
- The weekend series was just the second DBU lost in the regular season.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
43 – Kody Funderburk has reached base in 43 straight games, passing Granberg for the longest such streak this year.
10 – Granberg's home run was his 10^th of the season, making him the third Patriot to reach double digits this year.
19 – Jimmy Glowenke extended his season-high hit streak to 19 games.
 
UP NEXT
DBU will face Valparaiso in the first round of the MVC Tournament at Horner Ballpark on Wednesday.