THE RUNDOWN
The DBU Patriots made history on Monday afternoon with a comeback victory over the Oregon State Beavers, 8-5, sending DBU to the second Super Regional in program history. Ten years and one day after the Patriots dogpiled in Lupton Stadium to celebrate their first Super Regional appearance, they did it again, celebrating a win that will forever be remembered in DBU history.
Oregon State put five runs on the board between the second and third innings thanks to a handful of hits and several walks that were handed out by the Pats' pitching staff. Specifically, it was the four-run third inning that really stung early in the game.
In the bottom of the sixth, DBU finally answered on the scoreboard as a two-out single by Christian Boulware set the stage for a Ryan Wrobleski two-run shot over the wall in left. Despite a prevailing wind that blew in from left field, Wrobleski muscled his seventh long ball of the year out of the ballpark.
In the seventh, the Patriots completed a historic comeback, scoring four runs to take the lead. After getting two runners on, Jackson Glenn nearly left the yard for a game tying blast, coming up just shy of the track in dead center field. Following a two-out walk to Austin Bell, Andrew Benefield sent the shot heard 'round the college baseball world out of the park and forever etched his name in Patriots' lore. With the bases loaded and two away, Benefield jumped on a Joey Mundt first pitch fastball and sent it soaring through the Ft. Worth sky for a grand slam.
River Town would send his own two-run shot over the right field wall in the eighth inning to give DBU insurance and help secure an 8-5 lead goingto the ninth.
The win went to Zane Russell who had a historic performance of his own out of the pen. Down 5-0 and facing elimination, Russell came out of the bullpen and shutdown the Beavers over 4.1 scoreless innings. Peyton Sherlin pitched 1.2 solid innings as well, locking down the mound and turning the ball over to Dominic Hamel who induced the final ground ball that sent the Patriots into a dogpile.
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- The Patriots have now won 40+ games in each of the last seven seasons. They are the only active team to have accomplished that feat.
- Monday marked the biggest comeback for the Pats since they did it against Oklahoma State on March 19, 2019.
- The victory comes ten years and one day after the Pats first dogpiled on this same field after clinching their first Super Regional.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
3 – All eight of the Pats' runs came off of the three long balls hit by Wrobleski, Benefield, and Town.
3 – After scoring the first five runs of the ballgame, DBU limited Oregon State to just three hits from the fourth inning on.
8 – DBU rode eight unanswered runs to the victory, scoring in their final three innings at the plate.
HEAD COACH DAN HEEFNER ON THE VICTORY
"Unbelievable. To win it that way was incredible. These guys have shown incredible resiliency. I'm super proud of them, they stuck with it. Once Wrobleski hit his home run, it gave the guys the spark they needed. Zane went out there and pitched so well for us. In the seventh, they walked the bases loaded for us and Benefield just came through. The thing I told him was that he was just looking for one pitch and to try and drive the ball back up the middle. He put a great swing on it."
ANDREW BENEFIELD ON THE GRAND SLAM
"It's surreal, this is why I wanted to come to college so I could experience moments like this. I was just looking heater out over the plate. I thought he was going to work away but it missed over the plate and I just turned on. I just stuck to our approach and it worked out. It's such a blessing being here at DBU, I love every guy in this dugout."
DBU placed four players on the 2021 Fort Worth All-Regional Team including MVP Ryan Wrobleski, who was also named as an outfielder, Andrew Benefield (Utility), Christian Boulware (Catcher), and Peyton Sherlin (Pitcher).
UP NEXT
DBU will await the result of the Old Dominion-Virginia game seven to determine the location of the Super Regional.
