THE RUNDOWN
DBU suffered a 9-2 loss to Evansville in game one of a three-game series on Friday night at Horner Ballpark. Purple Aces' senior right-hander Shane Gray stymied the Patriot offense,pitching the first nine-inning complete game of his career and striking out a season-high 10 batters in the win for Evansville (29-18, 13-3).

DBU (31-18, 9-7) managed just six hits in the game and committed a pair of errors in the loss.  With the win for Evansville, the Aces keep a lock on first place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings and extended their lead over DBU to 4.0 games.

The Patriots jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Ryan Wrobleski connected on his eighth home run of the year.  The lead would be short-lived though, as Evansville took advantage of three walks issued by Jacob Meador to score four runs in their half of the second, highlighted by a Danny Borgstom two-run double and a Tanner Craig RBI double.
 
In the third, the Aces struck for three more runs. Following a one-out error, Eric Roberts blasted a home run over the wall in left and two batter later, Chase Hug left the yard to give Evansville a commanding 7-1 advantage.

DBU responded with a single run in the third on an run-scoring single from Miguel Santos.  The run would be the last of the night for the Patriots, while the Aces added two more runs for good measure in the fifth.

Grey settled in after allowing a run in the third to retire 11 consecutive before allowing a lead-off double from Cole Moore in the seventh.  After loading the bases in the ninth, Grey closed out his complete game effort with his 10th strikeout and induced a double play to put the finishing touches on a 9-2 win for Evansville.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 
- The Patriots are now 2-4 in game one of a series versus conference opponents.
- DBU is 4.0 games behind Evansville for first place in the MVC and 2.0 back of Southern Illinois for second.
- Shane Grey walked just one batter in his complete game effort.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 
12 - Ryan Wrobleski extended his hit streak to a career-high 12 games with a two-hit day that included a home run and a double.
4.0 - Kyle Rich worked 4.0 shutout innings of relief, allowing just one hit while striking out four.
4 - Four of the runs DBU allowed were unearned.

ON DECK
DBU and Evansville meet in game two on Saturday at Horner Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.

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