THE RUNDOWN
The Patriots claimed game one against Indiana State in explosive fashion, 8-5, behind Jackson Glenn's two-home run performance. DBU (20-9) took the lead with a three-run fifth inning and is now 5-0 in conference play.
In a battle between two of the best pitchers in the country, it was the offense that wrote the story on a stormy Friday night. After being delayed for over two hours, Dominic Hamel finally took the mound for the Patriots at 9pm. Hamel was electric early, striking out five of the first six outs recorded. After four scoreless innnings on the mound, the Pats took the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Glenn banged the first long ball of the night off the left field foul pole.
But the Sycamores would rally in the next half inning. Aided by a couple of walks, the Trees hung four runs on DBU in the top of the fifth. Unphased by the weather or the big inning, DBU's offense responded in their next at bat. River Town drove a 1-2 fastball over the left field wall, giving the Patriots a final lead for the evening.
Blayne Jones would homer in the seventh, his first hit since returning to the lineup, and Jackson Glenn put an exclamation point on the evening with his second blast in the eighth.
Hamel would earn his seventh win of the season, and Peyton Sherlin came on in relief, picking up a four inning save and a new career high for innings pitched.
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- DBU is 5-0 and in first place in The Valley after tonight's win.
- Blayne Jones set a new career high in home runs after belting his sixth of the year this evening.
- Despite the late start time, DBU and Indiana State played one of the quickest games of the year, concluding the 9th inning after just 2:35.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
0 – DBU did not strand a single base runner tonight.
1 – Sherlin picked up the first save of his career after pitching four innings of one-run baseball.
25 – With their combined seven RBI tonight, Jackson Glenn and River Town are tied for the team lead with 25 RBI apiece.
DAN HEEFNER ON THE PIVOTAL 5TH INNING:
""I thought they did a great job. [Geremy] Gurrero is a good pitcher and the guys really studied him. In that inning, everything happened with two strikes. Wrobleski had the single, David had the two strike walk and Glenn had the two strike HR so I really thought that was big the way that they battled tonight."
UP NEXT
DBU and Indiana State play a doubleheader on Saturday, with game one starting at 2:30PM.
