THE RUNDOWN
The Patriots dropped the back half of Friday's doubleheader to Southern Illinois, 9-8. Tied at eight apiece in the bottom of the eighth inning, DBU (33-14, 18-5) gave up four runs before responding with a three-run top of the ninth to fall one run short in 9-8 loss.

DBU once again struck first in the ballgame, scoring three runs in the top of the first. Cole Moore doubled home two runs, while Andrew Benefield collected another RBI with a single. Over the third and fourth innings, the Salukis would rally to tie the game against a compilation of Patriot pitchers. In the fifth inning, the Pats claimed the lead right back, scoring a run on a throwing error and another on a Jackson Glenn sacrifice fly.

Unfortunately for the Patriots, this time the Salukis had a comeback in mind. SIU scored two in the sixth and four in the eighth inning to open up a four-run cushion on DBU heading to the ninth inning. Jace Grady laced an RBI double into left field, and Jackson Glenn blasted his team-leading 16th home run of the season, but the Pats came up just one run shy in the end.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
-The Patriots can still go for the series tomorrow afternoon and finish out their 2021 regular season campaign with another conference series.
- The big inning continues to be DBU's Achilles heel as the eighth inning quickly snowballed away from the Pats.
- Luke Eldred will go to the mound tomorrow in the regular season finale.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
3 - The Patriots swiped three more bases tonight. They now have 75 total bags swiped on the season.
16 - With Glenn's 16th home run, he now moves into a tie for ninth place in DBU's Division I era for most home runs in a single-season.
44 - With his three RBI performance tonight, Glenn once again assumes the team lead in RBI with 44.

UP NEXT
The Patriots and Salukis play the series finale on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00pm.