THE LEAD
MD Johnson set a DBU record for strikeouts in a seven-inning game with 15, and the Patriot offense gave him more than enough help in closing out a weekend sweep of Houston Baptist with a 12-2 win Saturday at Horner Ballpark. Johnson took a no-hitter into the game's final inning and improved to 3-0 on the season.

The Patriots (8-3) scored four runs in the first inning with the help of doubles by Jackson Glenn, Augie Isaacson, and Christian Boulware. Glenn's first home run as a Patriot was the highlight of a four-run second inning. Evan Sandmann hit his first career grand slam in the fourth inning to bring the Patriots' total to 12 runs.

Johnson set the tone early, striking out two of the three batters he faced in the first inning. The senior from Red Oak struck out 14 of the first 18 HBU (4-7) hitters he faced, including a stretch of eight straight strikeouts.

A hit batter, a wild pitch, and an RBI single in the seventh led to Johnson's exit, but not before he recorded his record-setting 15th strikeout. Travis Stone finished the game with 0.2 scoreless innings.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 - Johnson's 15 strikeouts are the most by a Patriot pitcher since Colin Charland struck out 16 Jarvis Christian batters in 1985.
 - DBU's 12 runs were a season-high.
 - Johnson tied Michael Smith for fifth in DBU's Division I era with 194 career strikeouts.

COACH DAN HEEFNER ON JOHNSON'S PERFORMANCE
"He had everything going. I thought his presence, his tempo, and his pitches were all working, and he was really confident out there. That was fun to watch."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
40 - Jimmy Glowenke extended his reached-base streak to 39 games after being hit by a pitch in the first.
7 - The Patriots' seven extra-base hits were a season-high.
30/3 - Patriot starting pitchers struck out 30 batters on the weekend while walking three.
 
UP NEXT
The Patriots host Oklahoma on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 at Horner Ballpark.