THE RUNDOWN
The Patriots lit up the scoreboard on Friday night, crushing the Illinois State Redbirds 18-7. DBU (26-11) scored five runs in the first, one in the second, six in the third, one in the fifth, and five in the sixth to blow their way by the Redbirds.

Jackson Glenn started the fireworks with a solo homerun in the first inning. He was quickly followed by RBI from Cole Moore, Andrew Benefield, Blayne Jones, and Ryan Wrobleski. River Town added his 33rd RBI of the year in the second, making it 6-1 Pats at that point.

The Redbirds tried to rally in the third as they tagged Dominic Hamel for three runs in the top half of the frame. While it felt like the ballgame might settle in from that point, the Pats exploded for six more in the bottom part of the inning with three two-run home runs, all with two outs in the inning. Christian Boulware and Andres Sosa both blasted their first of the night, while Jackson Glenn recorded his third career multi-homer game.

DBU tallied their 13th run of the game in the bottom of the fifth when Town singled home Jackson Glenn. It was yet another timely response to Illinois State's two runs in the top half of the inning.

The Pats tacked on five more runs in the bottom of the sixth for good measure. Cole Moore blasted the fifth home run of the night for DBU. Jace Grady laced a single back up the middle, Jackson Glenn lifted a sacrifice fly into center field, and Christian Boulware scored on a balk to total the 18 runs for the Pats. Illinois State scored one more time in the seventh inning, but the 10-run rule ended things after that.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- The Patriots didn't need the help, but Illinois State committed four errors in a game for the fourth time this season.
- Jackson Glenn homered multiple times in the same contest for the third time in his career.
- The 38 runs in back-to-back games in the largest offensive output for the Pats since 2017 when they scored 16 against No. 19 Oklahoma and 20 against Indiana State.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
2 – With the win, the Patriots once again own a two game lead in the conference over Indiana State.
5 – The Patriots hit five home runs in a game for the second time this season. The first time came back in February when DBU accomplished that feat against Austin Peay.
9 – Dominic Hamel secured his 9th win of the season and sits just two wins away from the program record of 11 (Jeff Gilmore, 2004).

DAN HEEFNER ON THE RUN RULE:
" We had quality at-bats up and down the lineup. Baseball is an interesting game and we needed to score a lot with the park playing small. You've gotta go on a day like today. We always say, 'Winners find a way' and today we did that. It was big to end things in seven innings to keep the bullpen fresh."

UP NEXT
DBU and Illinois State will play a twin-billing tomorrow afternoon. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1pm.