The Patriots found themselves down to their last out Saturday trailing Air Force by three, but Bryce Ball came to the plate with the bases loaded, and cleared them with a game-winning grand slam in a 6-5 win at Falcon Field.

Ball drove a 2-2 pitch over the left center field fence to give the Patriots (17-5) their first lead since the top of the first inning. Air Force (9-9) built a 5-1 lead after the seventh, but an RBI double by Evan Sandmann in the eighth and Ball's big fly erased that lead in the closing innings.

Jarod Bayless earned the win in relief of MD Johnson, who allowed just one earned run in six innings of work. Kragen Kechely picked up the save with a perfect ninth inning, striking out two of the three batters he faced.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 - The Patriots have come from behind or broken a tie in the seventh inning or later in four straight games.
 - MD Johnson is now 10 innings behind Victor Black for fourth in DBU's Division I era.
 - Sandmann's eighth-inning double was the Patriots' first hit with men on base.

COACH DAN HEEFNER ON AN UNEVEN DAY AT THE PLATE
"I think this will be one of those memorable games and one the guys can look back on, but we had so many opportunities, and we really need to clean things up.  We like our ball club a lot, but we're not even playing close to what we're capable of.  We're really happy to be getting wins, but we've got to do a better job."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
51 - Jimmy Glowenke extended his reached-base streak to 51 games with a seventh-inning double. He is 18 games shy of Jason Krizan's Patriot record of 69.
100 - Glowenke's double was also his 100th career hit.
5 - Saturday's game was the Patriots' fifth straight road win.

UP NEXT
The Patriots and Falcons conclude their series Sunday at 1:00 pm. Zach Heaton (0-0, 0.82 ERA) will take the hill for DBU. He will be opposed by Ethan Nichols (1-1, 6.32 ERA).