THE RUNDOWN
The Patriots took game one of their Missouri Valley Conference Tournament over Valparaiso, 12-2. DBU rode an eight-run third inning to a run-rule victory over the Brown & Gold and advance to play the loser of the Bradley versus Southern Illinois game tomorrow afternoon.

Dominic Hamel made history against Valpo by striking out 11 and claiming the distinction of being DBU's single-season strikout king in the program's NCAA Division I era dating back to 2004. Hamel passed Patriot legend Jordan Martinson (115) and finished Wednesday with 123 strikeouts in 2021.  Hamel also tied Jeff Gilmore (2004) for the most wins (11) in single-season in the D1 era.

DBU has not had any trouble swinging the bats lately, and that trend continued on Wednesday afternoon. The Pats tacked on two in the second inning thanks to a passed ball and an unearned run. In the third, the Patriots blasted their way to a 10-0 lead. Jace Grady lifted a sacrifice fly to right field and Austin Bell doubled into the right field gap. DBU benefited from another errant pitch to score their fifth run. It was quickly followed by a 2-RBI single for Andrew Benefield and a 3-run home run from Blayne Jones.

Valparaiso got two runs in the fourth inning, but Christian Boulware responded by blasting his fifth home run of the year over the left field wall in the fifth inning. Jace Grady would slam the walk-off single into right-center field to end the ballgame and hand DBU a comfortable opening victory in the bottom of the seventh.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Blayne Jones tied a career high with four hits in today's contest. Jones homered and singled three times.
- DBU is now 5-0 against Valparaiso in 2021.
- Jace Grady has reached safely in a career-high 25 consecutive games.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
1 – DBU pitchers were stingy with their free passes, walking only one batter this afternoon.
6 – Six different Patriots recorded a base hit today, and all nine Pats reached base safely.
21 – Jackson Glenn recorded his 21st multi-hit game of the year.

UP NEXT
The Patriots will play the loser of the Bradley versus Southern Illinois game tomorrow at 2:30pm.