THE LEAD
DBU broke out of an offensive funk Tuesday in an 11-0 win over Stephen F. Austin at Horner Ballpark. The Patriots (33-15) scored 10 runs in the fifth inning to induce a pre-arranged mercy rule in a seven-inning victory. 

Prior to Tuesday's game, the most recent home runs hit by the Patriots were back-to-back home runs by Bryce Ball and Jimmy Glowenke against Illinois State on April 28. That homerless streak snapped Tuesday with Ball's three-run blast in the fifth, immediately followed by Glowenke's solo home run. Andres Sosa added an RBI single in the fifth, followed by an RBI groundout by Herbert Iser. Blayne Jones drove in a pair of runs with a single before Ball's second home run of the inning capped a 10-run rally.

Parker Towns earned the win in a predetermined three-inning start, holding the Lumberjacks (21-28) scoreless on two hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Jimmy Gouse, Kragen Kechely, Travis Stone, and Ray Gaither combined to hold SFA to one hit and one walk with five strikeouts over the next four innings, as Gaither struck out all three batters he faced to end the game.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 - Towns' start was the longest scoreless outing by a DBU starting pitcher since Jimmy Fouse on April 2 against Baylor.
 - Ball became the second Patriot to reach 40 RBIs in 2019.
 - The Patriots' 10 runs in the fifth were their most in an inning since March 24 at Air Force, when they scored 12 in the second inning.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
203 - Ball's first home run snapped a string of 203 plate appearances without a home run. 
4 - Gaither has struck out four of the seven batters he has faced on the season.
5 - Ball and Glowenke hit DBU's fifth set of back-to-back home runs on the season.

UP NEXT
DBU hosts Indiana State in the Patriots' final home Missouri Valley Conference series of the season Friday through Sunday.