THE LEAD
No. 23 DBU opened the season with a 4-1 victory over South Dakota State at Horner Ballpark. The Patriots (1-0) struck out 16 Jackrabbits on the evening, including Ray Gaither's seven in four innings of work. Kragen Kechely earned the win, turning in a three-inning, five strikeout performance. Kechely allowed a pair of hits, striking out five batters and walking three.

Austin Bell belted a solo shot for the Patriots' first run of the night in the third inning, his second of his career. The Patriots then broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fifth as Blayne Jones notched his first RBI of the season, drawing a bases loaded walk allowing Bell to score.

After a wild pitch that scored Andres Sosa, freshman Ryan Wrobleski grounded out to second base to put the Patriots ahead 4-1. The Patriot bullpen would keep SDSU at bay for the rest of evening.

Coming in for Kechely, Cole Reeves tossed two perfect innings picking up the save, striking out four of the six batters he faced.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 - DBU has won on opening day five of the last six years.
 - The Patriots 16 strikeouts are the most on opening day in DBU's Division I era.
 - Wrobleski posted a strong debut going 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

DBU HEAD COACH DAN HEEFNER ON THE PITCHING TO START TO THE SEASON
"I thought Ray looked great. It's great to have him starting off the weekend for us just with his mentality and his presence. He had a perfect first inning and continued that for awhile, I thought he got a little bit tired later but he's just going to keep building up his stamina. That's an outstanding guy to have start a weekend for us."

"Kragen's got a lot of experience, and experienced guys are able to come in and make adjustments on the fly and I thought he was able to do that. He made some really good pitches when he needed to. Cole Reeves, we have high expectations for him, he can do a lot of things for us. He can start a game, but he also has stuff like that where he can come in and close it too."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
9 – Ray Gaither needed only nine pitches in the first inning to shut down the Jackrabbits.
8 – The Patriots worked eight base on balls on the evening.
72 – Kragen Kechely appeared in his 72nd game, ranking sixth in program history.

UP NEXT
DBU and South Dakota State resume their series at 2:00 p.m. at Horner Ballpark. Chandler Arnold (0-0, 0.00) will make his Patriot debut as he is set to face Rick Atkins (0-0, 0.00).