THE RUNDOWN
The Patriots won the Friday night opener over the Air Force Falcons, 2-0, behind a fantastic pitching performance from Dominic Hamel. DBU (19-7) was treated to a historic night at Horner Ballpark, one that saw Hamel retire 21 straight batters after giving up a lone single in the first inning.

DBU scored the only two runs of the ballgame in the bottom of the fifth inning. With runners on second and third, River Town sent an RBI single through the right side to make it 1-0 Patriots. Jeffrey David would then score on a passed ball, giving the Pats the 2-0 edge.

The lack of scoring was ultimately the result of an exciting pitchers' duel between Hamel and Falcons' starter Jason Shuger. Shuger took the hard luck loss, tossing six innings and allowing the two runs on just two hits. Hamel, on the other hand, was flawless. Dominic allowed just one hit in the first inning, retiring the next 21 batters and striking out 12 Falcons in the process. He did not allow a walk. In total, Hamel threw 7.1 scoreless innings before giving way to Kragen Kechely, who earned a two-inning save.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- The Patriots are looking to win their final nonconference series of the season with a victory in one of the next two games.
- DBU is now 6-1 all-time against Air Force, a series that only dates back to 2018.
- The three hits were the fewest in a win for the Patriots all season. The previous floor for hits in a victory was against Missouri in a 3-2 win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
5 – Both teams combined for just 5 total hits on Friday night.
15 – Hamel and Kechely combined for 15 strikeouts in the misty conditions to take game one of the series.
22 – With his RBI single tonight, River Town now leads DBU in RBI with 22 on the season.

DOMINIC HAMEL ON HIS PERFORMANCE:
"[Christian] Boulware and I really put together a good game plan for these guys and studied the hitters. Christian called a great game tonight. I worked a couple of guys backwards by starting with breaking balls and then getting them with the fastball. Spotting those fastballs on the inside corner really helped me tonight.

UP NEXT
DBU and Air Force play game two of the three game series. First pitch is scheduled for 2pm on Saturday afternoon.