THE LEAD
Houston scored eight runs in the final three innings to come from behind and defeat DBU 8-6 Friday night at Horner Ballpark. The Patriot bullpen struggled after Jordan Martinson completed six scoreless innings with six strikeouts and one walk while allowing four hits, all in the first two innings.

A Houston (9-7) error on a sac bunt by Evan Sandmann and a sacrifice fly by Jackson Glenn gave the Patriots (13-4) a 2-0 lead in the third inning that would stand until the seventh, when the Cougars scored three times without the benefit of a hit. DBU would answer in the bottom of the frame, as Luke Bandy scored on a wild pitch, Augie Isaacson plated a run with an infield single, and Blayne Jones walked to force in a run. 

UH scored four more runs on two hits with the help of an error, a passed ball on a third strike, and three walks. Glenn drove in a run with a single through the left side in the bottom of the inning, but that was as close as DBU would get. The Cougars scored an insurance run in the top of the ninth, and although the Patriots loaded the bases with two outs, the tying run ended the game stranded at second.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 - The loss snapped DBU's eight-game winning streak.
 - Jordan Martinson moved into sixth place in DBU's Division I era with 198 strikeouts for his career.
 - The Patriot bullpen allowed eight runs on three hits with seven walks and seven strikeouts.

COACH DAN HEEFNER ON TOO MANY MISTAKES
"I think all across the board we did a lot of things poorly, but definitely the walks, the free bases, the errors, the passed ball... You could point to a lot of things."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
45 - Jimmy Glowenke extended his reached-base streak to 46 games with a seventh-inning walk.
8 - The Patriots' eight walks allowed were their second most in a game this season. DBU averages 6.5 walks per game in losses and 2.62 in wins.
4:32 - At four hours and 32 minutes, Friday's game was the longest of DBU's season to date.

 
UP NEXT
The series resumes Saturday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 2:00 pm at Horner Ballpark.