THE LEAD
Bryce Ball hit three of DBU's four home runs Friday night in a 13-8 series-opening win over Oral Roberts at JL Johnson Stadium in Tulsa. Jordan Martinson improved to 4-0 on the mound as the Patriots (10-3) put up a season-high run total.

Ball's first home run of the night cleared the center field fence just left of the batter's eye, cutting the ORU (6-4) lead to 2-1 in the second inning. Jimmy Glowenke homered off the left field foul pole in the third inning to give DBU a lead it would not relinquish. Ball's second home run extended the lead to 7-2 before the Golden Eagles would cut the lead back to two runs in the bottom of the fifth.

The third Ball homer of the night cleared the video board in right field to highlight the DBU outburst.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 - Ball is the first Patriot to hit three home runs in a game since Matt Duce on March 26, 2016 against Southern Illinois.
 - Martinson tied Brandon Williamson for fifth in DBU's Division I era with his 17th career win.
 - Ball's six RBIs are the most by a Patriot since Camden Duzenack drove in six on May 19, 2017 against Evansville.

COACH DAN HEEFNER ON BALL'S PROGRESSION AS A HITTER
"I think the biggest thing with Bryce is just confidence. As we've seen lately, he has big-time power, but he's also a complete hitter. He's not just a big power hitter who swings and misses... He's able to fight off pitches and foul them off, but he's got so much power that when he gets his pitch and squares it up, it's not going to stay in the yard."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
42 - Jimmy Glowenke extended his reached-base streak to 42 games with his third-inning homer.
7 - The Patriots have hit seven home runs in their last two games.
13 - DBU's 13 runs were the most ORU had allowed in a game all season.
 
UP NEXT
The Patriots and Golden Eagles resume their series Saturday at 2:00 pm.