THE RUNDOWN
The Patriots finished the Frisco College Baseball Classic with a bang, cruising past the Oklahoma Sooners (5-6), 9-3. With the win, the Pats (8-3) finished the tournament with a 3-1 record. The win was headlined by six shutout innings from Ray Gaither, who struck out six and allowed just three hits.
At the plate, the Patriots scored early and often, jumping all over Sooners' starter Jake Bennett. Three straight hits by the Patriots and two wild pitches led to three runs in the bottom of the first. Jackson Glenn singled home River Town to start the scoring. Glenn and Grady would both come home to score on wild pitches shortly thereafter.
In the second, DBU continued to pile on runs. The Patriots plated five to boost the lead to 8-0 in the blink of an eye. Jace Grady would clear the bases on a 2-RBI double into right center field. A bobble by the center fielder would allow a third run to score on the play as well. Jackson Glenn would then double Grady home, and Andrew Benefield would bring Glenn to the plate with a sacrifice fly.
After another scoreless inning from Gaither, Blayne Jones obliterated a baseball onto the roof of the Diamond Deck in left field to make it 9-0. For Jones, it was his fifth home run of the season, tying a career high set last year.
The Sooners tried to make it a ballgame late when they scored three runs in the seventh, but Kragen Kechely got out of the jam and Ross Carver threw two scoreless to put another tally in the win column for DBU.
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THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
-Â With his fifth home run tonight, Blayne Jones needed only 11 games to match his career high.
- Head Coach Dan Heefner is now just seven wins away from 500 for his career.
- Kragen Kechely made his 83rd career appearance tonight. He is just seven away from being tied for second place all-time at DBU when Chris Haney, who made 90 appearances from 2008-2011.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
4 – DBU swiped four bases in tonight's win, including stealing third base three times.
8 – The Patriots were efficient at the plate and did not miss opportunities, scoring nine runs on just eight hits.
.571 – River Town and Jace Grady are now tied for the team lead in on base percentage at an astronomical .571.
HEAD COACH DAN HEEFNER ON THE WIN
"I thought it was a great bounce back from yesterday's game. Ray Gaither set the tone early. He was outstanding and was in total control. I thought the offense did a good job, they did it again with some pressure on the bases. It was good to stretch that lead out at the beginning, but the story was Ray on the mound."
FRISCO COLLEGE BASEBALL CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Three Patriots made the All-Tournament team after an outstanding weekend.
-2B Jackson Glenn
-RF River Town
-SP Dominic Hamel
UP NEXT
DBU travels to Tulsa, Oklahoma for three games against Oral Roberts. Game one is scheduled for Friday night, with first pitch being at 6:00p.m.
