THE LEAD
DBU kept rolling Saturday night in an 8-1 win over Indiana State at Horner Ballpark. MD Johnson threw 7.0 innings of one-run, four-hit baseball with seven strikeouts and just one walk, while the offense rapped seven extra-base hits.

The Patriots (35-15, 11-6 Missouri Valley Conference) scored eight runs off Collin Liberatore, who entered the game 9-0 with a 1.80 earned run average for the Sycamores (34-13, 11-6). Andres Sosa opened the scoring in the second inning with a sacrifice fly, followed by Augie Isaacson's RBI triple and Herbert Iser's RBI double. Luke Bandy plated a run with a double, and Evan Sandmann drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the third.

The one blemish on Johnson's line was a solo home run that came in the fourth inning as the senior improved to 8-2 on the season. The win was the 27th of his career, putting him one behind Randall Taylor for the most in DBU's Division I era.

Solo home runs by Iser in the sixth and Bryce Ball in the seventh, as well as two scoreless innings by Peyton Sherlin, put the finishing touches on the win for the Patriots.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 - Johnson passed Jordan Martinson for second in career strikeouts in the DI era with his 255th in the seventh inning.
 - DBU has handed both of Indiana State's starting pitchers their first losses of the season this weekend.
 - Johnson is tied for sixth in DBU's DI era single-season strikeout rankings with 91 on the season with one regular season series remaining.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
7 - The Patriot' Nos. 5-9 hitters combined for seven of the eight RBIs on the night.
31 - DBU has scored 31 runs in 22 offensive innings since being shut out on one hit in the series finale at Missouri State a week ago.
4 -  Ball's homer was his fourth in the last three games.

UP NEXT
DBU goes for the sweep of Indiana State on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 pm at Horner Ballpark.