THE LEAD
No. 23 DBU dispensed of Southern Illinois in a 12-1 win Saturday to clinch its first regular-season Missouri Valley Conference title since 2016. The Patriots (38-16, 14-7 MVC) invoked the run rule in a seven-inning win.
Augie Isaacson's RBI bunt single opened the scoring in the second inning.
Andres Sosa followed with a three-run home run to left field, his fourth of the year.
Jimmy Fouse earned the win to improve to 4-0 as he held the Salukis (24-27, 5-16) scoreless through two innings. Fouse,
Peyton Sherlin,
Kragen Kechely,
Ray Gaither, and
Parker Towns combined to limit SIU to one run on five hits with seven strikeouts and four walks.
Sosa's four RBIs paced the Patriots, while Isaacson,
Herbert Iser,
Evan Sandmann,
Jackson Glenn, and
Hunter Vansau each contributed a run batted in.
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- DBU has finished no worse than tied for second in the MVC since joining the league in 2014.
- DBU and Illinois State finished with the same conference record, meaning the regular season conference title will be shared. However, DBU enters the MVC Tournament as the No. 1 seed by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker.
-
Bryce Ball's six-game home run streak came to a close, as he went 2-for-3 with a double.
COACH DAN HEEFNER ON THE CONFERENCE TITLE
"It is a huge deal. It's something I'm really, really proud of with this group. It's probably one of the more satisfying things since we've been here, because when you look at the number of new guys we have in the program, and two new coaches on the coaching staff, and all the turnover we've had, we've said it from day one - we figured out pretty early in the fall that this is a really, really good group of guys who work hard and are coachable and humble. For them to do this, I could not be more proud of them."
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
26 -
Augie Isaacson tied
Devlin Granberg's Division I era record of 26 steals in a season.
4 - The Patriots will play for their fourth MVC Tournament title next week.
3 - DBU has invoked the run rule three times in its last seven games.
UP NEXT
DBU will play in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament next week in Normal, Illinois.
