THE LEAD
The DBU Baseball team earned its first series sweep of the season Sunday, defeating Kent State 8-1. Christian Boulware hit two home runs, and MD Johnson picked up the win with five innings of one-run ball.

The Patriots (3-0) struck first, taking the lead in the first inning for the second day in a row on Blayne Jones' two-run double high off the left field fence. After the Golden Flashes (0-3) pushed across a run in the top of the third, Bryce Ball answered with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the frame. 

Boulware's first homer drove in two runs in the fourth inning, clearing the left field fence by plenty. His second, a sixth-inning solo shot, was a no-doubter to left-center. Herbert Iser drove in his first two runs as a Patriot with an eighth-inning single.

Johnson struck out six with no walks through five innings in his season debut, allowing one run on four hits. Kragen Kechely, Burl Carraway, and MacGregor Hines combined for four scoreless innings of relief with one baserunner allowed.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 - DBU has swept its opening series in five of the last six seasons.
 - Johnson earned his 20th career victory, tying him for second in DBU's Division I era with Cy Sneed.
 - The Patriots improved to 116-36 at Horner Ballpark since 2014 after entering the season 12th in the country in home winning percentage during that span.

DBU HEAD COACH DAN HEEFNER ONTHE PITCHING STAFF'S EXCELLENT EFFORT
"[Johnson] battled through some adversity, but it feels good to have three guys where it's almost like the stuff gets better as the weekend goes on and to have guys like that at the back end of the bullpen."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
1.33 - The Patriot pitching staff has combined for a 1.33 earned run average through three games.
170 - Johnson took over sole possession of sixth all-time in the Division I era in strikeouts, bringing his total up to 170.
15.1 - DBU's starting pitchers combined for 15.1 innings with two earned runs allowed and 20 strikeouts on the weekend.

UP NEXT
DBU hosts Oklahoma on Tuesday in a non-conference matchup. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Horner Ballpark.