THE LEAD
DBU Baseball started the season with a 3-0 win over Kent State on Friday night behind a gem from senior lefthander Jordan Martinson. Martinson allowed one hit through six scoreless innings, striking out seven batters and walking just two.

The Patriots broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning, taking advantage of a Golden Flash error and an RBI groundout by Andres Sosa to push across a pair of runs. Another error led to DBU's third run in the seventh.

Jarod Bayless earned the save with three innings of one-hit shutout relief. Bayless walked two of the 11 batters he faced with no strikeouts.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 - DBU has won on opening day five of the last six years.
 - Friday was the Patriots' first Opening Day shutout since February 14, 2014.
 - A stiff breeze knocked down a would-be home run by Bryce Ball in the sixth inning, turning it into an out on the warning track.

DBU HEAD COACH DAN HEEFNER ON A SOLID START TO THE SEASON
"It all starts on the mound, and we had a great start from Jordan Martinson. Jarod Bayless came in behind him and was outstanding, and we did enough on offense to score some runs."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
8 - Martinson is now tied for eighth in DBU's Division I era with 14 career victories.
5 - Martinson also takes sole possession of fifth place in the DI era with 38 career starts.
30 - Jimmy Glowenke extended his reached-base streak to 30 games with a fifth-inning walk.
1,044 - A crowd of 1,044 rang in the new season at Horner Ballpark. 

UP NEXT
DBU and Kent State resume their series at 2:00 p.m. at Horner Ballpark on Saturday. Luke Eldred (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will face John Matthews (0-0, 0.00 ERA).