THE LEAD
No. 23 DBU earned its first series sweep of the season Sunday at Horner Ballpark, defeating South Dakota State 13-2 in seven innings. The Patriot offense erupted with 11 hits, and Dominic Hamel picked up the win with five innings of two-run baseball.

The Jackrabbits (0-3) struck first, taking the lead in the first inning for the second day in a row as Gus Steiger scored while Braeden Brown was caught stealing. DBU (3-0) would answer in the fourth with a six spot as Jackson Glenn delivered an RBI single, followed by a three-run homer by Blayne Jones, his first of the 2020 campaign. Jeffrey David then belted a two-run shot, the first of his Patriot career.

In the fifth, DBU scored five times on two hits including Dan Pruitt's two-RBI single to left, and Hayden Ebrecht's single to right-center for his first career RBI.

Hamel struck out nine with two walks in his Patriot debut, allowing two runs on three hits. Chas Sagedahl and Ross Carver combined for a pair of scoreless innings of relief with one hit allowed.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 - DBU has swept its opening series in six of the last seven seasons.
 - The win today marks the first victory in run-rule fashion of a non-conference opponent since May 7, 2019 versus Stephen F. Austin.
 - The Patriots improved to 157-57 at Horner Ballpark since 2013, 100 games over .500.

DBU HEAD COACH DAN HEEFNER ON THE EFFORT FROM DOMINIC HAMEL
"Dominic has dominating stuff. We definitely saw that today. It's pretty special to have a guy like him throw on Sunday's with his fastball, his breaking ball, you know we have three guys with plus-plus stuff that can start the game. To be able to finish it with a guy like (Ross) Carver, same thing with how (Hamel) started it. We need to clean up a lot of things, but the only way to do that is to play somebody else and learn as you go to keep getting better."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
4  - The heart of the order in Blayne Jones, Jackson Glenn, and Andres Sosa combined for four hits and four RBI Sunday afternoon.
7 - Patriot newcomers accounted for seven of the teams 13 runs on Sunday.
20 - DBU's starting pitchers combined for 20 strikeouts in 12.2 innings of work on the weekend.

UP NEXT
DBU hosts UT Arlington on Tuesday in a non-conference matchup. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Horner Ballpark.