DBU opened Missouri Valley Conference play with a 10-5 win over Valparaiso at Horner Ballpark on Friday night. The Patriots (19-6, 1-0 MVC) rapped six doubles in support of
Jordan Martinson, who earned his fifth win of the season with 6.0 innings of three-run baseball.
Valpo (6-16, 0-1) struck first with a run in the first, but the Patriots powered ahead with a four-run rally in the second.
Blayne Jones drove in DBU's first run of the day with a double and scored the go-ahead tally on
Augie Isaacson's bunt single.
Luke Bandy blasted a 2-1 pitch over the left field fence to cap the rally.
The Patriots put the game out of reach with five runs in their final two turns at bat after
Burl Carraway excaped a seventh-inning jam with the tying run at third by striking out three straight batters. A
Luke Bandy sac fly and a
Herbert Iser RBI double added some insurance in the seventh inning. A two-run hustle double to shallow center by Isaacson and an RBI single that was too hot for the Valpo first baseman to handle off the bat of
Herbert Iser further padded the DBU lead in the eighth.
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- At 19-6, the Patriots are off to their best 25-game start since starting 22-3 in 2015.
- Martinson passed Cy Sneed for fourth in DBU's Division I era in strikeouts and finished the game with 213 for his career.
- DBU is 6-0 in Missouri Valley Conference regular season openers since joining the conference in 2014.
COACH DAN HEEFNER ON CARRAWAY'S CLUTCH PITCHING
"That was huge, after the passed ball with a runner at third to tie the game, to strike out three in a row. He's been great for us all year. You feel good with guys at the end of the game who have swing and miss stuff... I think that gave us confidence going into the offensive side of it as well.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
12 -
Blayne Jones extended his team-leading hitting streak to 12 games with a pair of doubles.
60 - DBU added six doubles to its MVC-leading total Friday, giving it 60 two-baggers on the season.
6 - The bottom four hitters in the Patriot order combined for six extra-base hits.
UP NEXT
The Patriots and Crusaders resume their series Saturday at 2:00 pm.
MD Johnson (3-1, 1.93 ERA) will face Colin Fields (2-1, 4.85 ERA).
