THE LEAD
After falling behind 3-0 in the third, DBU put its foot on the gas and triggered the Missouri Valley Conference mercy rule for the second time in as many weekends Saturday in a 13-3 win over Illinois State at Horner Ballpark. The Patriots (29-13, 7-4 MVC) scored 13 unanswered to force a rubber match in Sunday's series finale.

The Redbirds (26-17, 9-2 MVC) jumped out to a 3-0 lead, scoring three times in the third inning. Jackson Glenn took a chunk out of that lead in the bottom of the frame with a two-run single. Blayne Jones tied the game with an RBI single in the fourth, followed by a sac fly by Glenn and a two-run single by Evan Sandmann. 

MD Johnson recovered from a rocky third inning to finish with a quality start, throwing 6.0 innings and allowing three runs on seven hits with nine strikeouts and two walks.

Jones and Jimmy Glowenke added sac flies in the fifth, with a Bryce Ball RBI fielder's choice sandwiched in between.

Sandmann led off the sixth with a solo home run, his sixth of the season. A bases-loaded walk to Jones, a passed ball, and a wild pitch led to the Patriots increasing their lead to 10. Burl Carraway struck out two of the three batters he faced, finishing the seventh with 10 pitches thrown.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 - The Patriots are undefeated in the third game of weekend series this season.
 - DBU scored 10 or more unanswered runs for the fourth time in 2019.
 - Saturday's game was the sixth in which the Patriots finished with more runs scored than hits.

COACH DAN HEEFNER ON JOHNSON'S EFFORTS
"MD's been great for us all year long, and we've seen him do that before where his pitch count is early and he still gets us through six innings. That was big for us in this game and in the series to save our bullpen. We wanted to just shut it down and for Burl to just throw 10 pitches, from a pitching standpoint, we're in a really good place for tomorrrow."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
3 - Three Patriots - Blayne Jones, Jackson Glenn, and Evan Sandmann - recorded three RBIs Saturday.
3 - DBU's three sac flies were a season high.
3 - Luke Bandy scored three runs without a base hit, reaching via two walks and a hit by pitch.

UP NEXT
DBU and Illinois State conclude their series with Game Three at 12:00 pm Sunday at Horner Ballpark.