THE RUNDOWN
DBU took a 21-2 drubbing against Evansville Friday night in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. The Purple Aces took command with seven runs in the first inning and put the game firmly out of reach with 15 more in the fifth and sixth frames. With the run-rule win, Evansville (32-22) advances to face Missouri State and DBU slips into an elimination match against Southern Illinois on Saturday morning. 


The Pats (34-21-1) started the day with back-to-back base hits before Cole Moore put DBU in front with an RBI double. Miguel Santos tattooed a leadoff double off the wall in center field and marched to third on a single from Jace Grady. With two runners on and one out, Moore lined a double to right field that gave the Patriots a 1-0 lead with the opportunity to strike for more. But a strikeout and a fly out ended the attack as the wheels fell off in the following frame. 

A three-run triple sandwiched between a pair of RBI singles chased Chandler Arnold out of the game in the first inning. Freshman pitcher Ryan Johnson entered and attempted to put out the flames, but two more runs came home to give the Purple Aces a 7-1 lead. 

The Patriots had chances to slowly chip away at Evansville's lead after the big first frame. DBU put two runners on base four times in the next five innings but failed to push anything across before the Aces exploded once more.

A six-spot in the fourth inning was answered by an even bigger eight-run barrage in the fifth to give Evansville total control of the contest with a 21-1 lead.

The final run of the game was a Nate Rombach homer to left field in the sixth inning. 

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 
- Blayne Jones played in his 237th career game, the most ever by a Patriot in the Division I era.
- Jones also tied Austin Listi (230) for the most starts in school history. 
- The 21-2 defeat is DBU's second-biggest loss in the Division I era. The Patriots fell 21-1 to Texas Tech in 2007. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 
22 - Cole Moore leads the team with 22 doubles. 
12 - Nate Rombach tied Blayne Jones with a team-high 12 home runs. 
3 - All 21 of Evansville's runs came in three innings. 

ON DECK
DBU has a quick turnaround against the Salukis of Southern Illinois on Saturday morning. First pitch is scheduled for 11:02 a.m.  Read Full Article