THE RUNDOWN
No. 22 DBU dropped its season opener versus Southeast Missouri, 7-6 in extra innings Friday night at Horner Ballpark. SEMO's (1-0) Jevon Mason tripled into right field to bring home the go-ahead score in a 12-inning marathon that lasted 4.5 hours. 

After going down 2-0 in the bottom of the first, Cole Moore put DBU on the board with an RBI single into center field. The Redhawks attempted to put the Patriots away early, posting another two-spot in the fourth for a 4-1 lead. But freshman Nathan Humphreys stepped up in the bottom of the inning to blast a two RBI shot over the wall in left-center field for the first home run of the 2022 campaign. 

After SEMO tacked on two more runs to open the sixth inning, DBU pushed three across to reset the game at 6-6. Blayne Jones ripped a ball down the left-field line to score Nate Rombach and Luke Heefner, and an RBI single on an 11-pitch at-bat by Jace Grady closed the frame and began a six-inning scoring drought for both sides. 

Luke Eldred made the start on the mound for DBU. The redshirt senior recorded four punchouts over three innings of work. Zach Heaton took over in the seventh and carried the Patriots to extra innings with a fantastic performance, notching seven strikeouts versus the 12 batters he faced. 

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 
-DBU drops its first season opener since 2017.
-The Patriots went to extra innings on opening day for just the second in the Division I era. 
-Heaton's seven strikeouts are a career-high. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 
23 - The Redhawks and Patriots left a combined 23 runners on base. 
2 - SEMO's Jevon Mason hit two triples on the day. 
3 -The Patriots stole three bases against the Redhawks.

UP NEXT
No. 22 DBU and SEMO resume their three-game series on Saturday. The first pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at Horner Ballpark.