THE RUNDOWN
DBU (16-8) won their second straight midweek contest and fourth consecutive road game with a 7-4 victory over No. 21 Louisiana Tech Tuesday at J.C. Love Field. The Patriots led the entire way, holding off two Bulldog rallies that cut the lead to a single run. Self-inflicted wounds put LA Tech (18-7) behind early, and the DBU bats outworked a Bulldogs offense that entered the game ranked 17th in the nation in runs scored.
Miguel Santos went 3-for-4 at the plate, and
Cole Moore doubled twice to lead a DBU offensive attack that was also gifted three runs off wild pitches and a throwing error.
Zach Heaton earned the win after tossing 2.2 scoreless innings, and
Chandler Arnold converted his fifth consecutive save opportunity.
Nate Rombach started the action with a leadoff single in the third inning. The sophomore made his way around the basepaths on a pair of groundouts and came in to score the game's first run on a wild pitch.
The DBU bats erupted with four consecutive base hits to open the fourth.
Cole Moore lit the fuse with a leadoff double and scored on a base knock from
Miguel Santos that dropped into left field. Then,
Andrew Benefield became the second Patriot in as many innings to come home on a wild pitch, racing in from third to beat the tag for a 3-0 DBU lead.
LA Tech punched back in the home half of the fifth. With two away, the Bulldogs rattled off three straight hits to plate two runs and cut the DBU lead down to 3-2.
But the opportunistic Patriots would once again capitalize on Bulldog mistakes.
Andrew Benefield reached on a walk and made his way home on back-to-back wild pitches and a throwing error to extend the DBU lead to 4-2. With runners on the corners and only one out,
Nate Rombach dealt further damage with a bunt that scored
Miguel Santos.
After LA Tech's Cole McConnell sent a two-run single up the middle in the bottom of the sixth,
Cole Moore responded with an RBI double off the left-field wall for insurance in the seventh. A
Jace Grady RBI single lined into right field in the eighth and gave the Patriots a 7-4 lead going into the ninth, where
Chandler Arnold withstood a pair of base hits to close out the Bulldogs on their home field.
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
-
Miguel Santos tied his season high with three hits.
-DBU snapped LA Tech's four-game win streak and improved to 7-6 against the Bulldogs in DBU's Division I era.
-The Patriots are winners in seven of their last eight.
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
200 -
Blayne Jones started his 200th game for DBU.
3 - The Patriots earned their third win over a Top 25 opponent.
6 -
Nate Rombach extended his season-high hit streak to six games.
UP NEXT
DBU returns to Horner Ballpark for a weekend series versus Wofford. The first pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. on Friday, April 1.
