THE LEAD
DBU and Houston were locked in a scoreless battle through seven innings, but the Cougars emerged with a 2-0 victory at Horner Ballpark on Saturday. A bunt single drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth and a solo home run in the ninth gave Houston (10-7) the only two runs of the day.

MD Johnson was stellar for DBU (13-5), limiting UH to one unearned run on three hits in eight innings. The senior righty struck out six batters and walked two, but took the loss as the Patriot offense managed just four hits of its own, all singles.

The Patriots' best chance to score came in the sixth, when Blayne Jones singled to left with Jimmy Glowenke at second and Luke Bandy at first. Glowenke was thrown out trying to score on the play. Jones' single was the Patriots' only hit with runners in scoring position.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 - MD Johnson moved into third place in DBU's Division I era with 208 strikeouts, passing Cory Taylor and Cy Sneed.
 - The Patriots were shut out at home for the first time since March 4, 2018 against Air Force.
 - DBU's two runs allowed were its fewest in a loss since a 2-1 defeat to Bradley on April 30, 2016.

COACH DAN HEEFNER ON A LACK OF EXECUTION
"In a close game like this, it really comes down to the tiny details, and the number of times we had runners in scoring position and two outs and weren't able to get the hit. They didn't have a whole lot of opportunities, and the one time they did, they executed a perfect bunt on it. That was the difference in the ballgame. We had a lot of chances and didn't execute, and they did."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
47 - Jimmy Glowenke extended his reached-base streak to 47 games when he was hit by a pitch in the fourth inning.
8.0 - Johnson's eight innings pitched were a career high.
230.1 - After Saturday, Johnson is fifth in the Division I era with 230.1 career innings pitched.

 UP NEXT
The series concludes Sunday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 pm at Horner Ballpark.