THE LEAD
DBU withstood a ninth-inning rally and held on to defeat Minnesota on Sunday in a 7-5 victory. A five-run rally helped push the Patriots (5-2) to their 30th win in their last 32 home series. MD Johnson provided a quality start, limiting the Gophers (2-5) to three runs on five hits with nine strikeouts and two walks. 

Trailing 2-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth, DBU pieced together its highest-scoring inning of the year. The Patriots took advantage of four walks, two Minnesota errors, and a wild pitch to take their first lead of the day. Blayne Jones scored the first DBU run of the day on a wild pitch. Jimmy Glowenke followed with a two-run single, Jackson Glenn picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice, and Bryce Ball singled home a run to bring the score to 5-2 DBU.

Evan Sandmann drove in an insurance run with a fifth-inning sacrifice fly, and Ball picked up his second RBI of the day with a single that glanced off the pitcher in the eighth. MacGregor Hines outlasted the Minnesota comeback attempt in the ninth, striking out three Gophers to secure the series win.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 - DBU is 30-2 in weekend series at Horner Ballpark since 2015.
 - Johnson earned his 21st career victory, passing Cy Sneed for second in DBU's Division I era. Randall Taylor holds the career record at 28.
 - After not drawing a walk in a loss to Oklahoma on Tuesday, DBU walked 24 times in three games this weekend.

COACH DAN HEEFNER ON HIS TEAM'S COMPETITIVENESS
"I thought it was an outstanding team effort... I thought the competitiveness of the guys and the at-bats they had and how deep they took the starting pitcher - he's a good arm, and they threw some really good arms - we're really starting to compete better."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
36 - Jimmy Glowenke extended his reached-base streak to 36 games with his fourth-inning single.
43 - Johnson made his 43rd start, passing Victor Black for the third-most by any pitcher in the DI era.
.500 - DBU improved to .500 (7-7) all-time against Big Ten opponents.

UP NEXT
The Patriots head to Waco on Tuesday to face Baylor. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.