THE RUNDOWN
The Patriots came out swinging against the Salukis of Southern Illinois in the Thursday night opener, crushing SIU 19-0 and claiming the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title. DBU (32-13, 17-4) benefited from a five-run fourth and an eight-run seventh on their way towards their conference clinching victory. 

On the mound, Dominic Hamel was nothing short of brilliant, pitching six innings of shutout baseball, giving up only one hit. Hamel struck out seven batters and continues to climb towards DBU's Division I single-season strikeout record (115), held by Jordan Martinson and now sits second all-time in a single-season with 112 strikeouts.

Offensively, Andrew Benefield singled to left field in the second to begin the scoring for DBU. River Town would add two more in the third when he singled into left-center. In the fourth, the Patriots added five more thanks to base hits from Austin Bell, Jackson Glenn, and Cole Moore. Benefield added another RBI in the sixth, while Christian Boulware tacked on two more with his two-RBI single at the end of the inning.

In the seventh, the Pats blew the doors wide open, plating eight more runs. Jace Grady and Cole Moore earned RBI via a hit by pitch and a free pass, respectively. Nico Burgarello joined the hit parade with an RBI single and Dylan Mach walked to bring in the 15th run of the game. Boulware brought in his third RBI of the evening and was quickly followed by a Blayne Jones two-RBI double that was stung into the left field corner. George Specht recorded a sacrifice fly to conclude the offense for the evening.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
-DBU claimed their third MVC regular-season title since the Patriots joined the league in 2014.
-The Pats are now 21-5 against the Salukis all-time. 
-It marked the first time SIU had allowed 19 runs in a game since a 19-9 loss to Missouri State on May 6, 2017.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
3- With his two late hits, Christian Boulware led the team in RBI with three on Friday night. Boulware and Andrew Benefield also had three hits this evening.
7 – Seven Patriots recorded multi-RBI games tonight.
112 – Dominic Hamel now has 112 Ks on the season and is four away from passing Martinson for DBU's Division I record.

HEAD COACH DAN HEEFNER ON THE WIN:
"I thought all phases of the game were outstanding. Dom was back to himself on the mound. He was in control and throwing all of his pitches for strikes. We also got back to being a complete offense and that was great to see.  I thought we had a great approach especially with two strikes and we were able to put pressure by stealing bases and were also able to execute in bunt situations.  It's those kinds of things that are going to be important to winning in the postseason."

UP NEXT
The Patriots and Salukis play a double-header on Friday afternoon. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 2:00pm.