THE RUNDOWN
DBU improved to 6-0 for the first time since the start of the 2015 season and claimed the series in a 4-3 win over the Austin Peay Governors on a chilly Saturday afternoon at Horner Ballpark. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Ryan Johnson worked 6.0 innings and allowed two runs to earn the win and Zane Russell fired 2.0 scoreless frames to notch his first save of the year.

Austin Peay (2-4) began the scoring early striking for two runs in their half of the first. After a lead-off walk, a hit batter, and an infield single, Johnson induced a double play ball off the bat of clean-up hitter Lyle Miller-Green that plated the game's first run. Harrison Brown then followed with an RBI single to put the Governors on top 2-0.

DBU (6-0) would tie the game in their half of the third as a Nathan Humphreys triple down the left field line to set the table for a Patriot rally. Kodie Kolden followed with an RBI double off the first pitch he saw from the Governors' Nick James. Two batters later, an Ethan Mann base hit back through the middle brought in the tying run.

With the game tied into the bottom of the sixth, an eight-pitch leadoff walk drawn by Tom Poole put the go-ahead run on base. Following a walk of Mann and a sacrifice bunt by Jace Grady, Miguel Santos drilled the first pitch of his at-bat into left to give the Patriots their first lead of the game. Nate Rombach followed suit with a sacrifice fly into right field that brought in Mann from third and extended the DBU lead to 4-2.

Austin Peay pulled to within one with a solo homer from Jon Jon Gazdar in the top of the seventh.

Leading 4-3 headed to the eighth, Zane Russell came out of the pen to retire six straight, including four by strikeout, to close out the game and earn his fifth career save.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- The 2023 Patriots will look to become the first team in the program's NCAA Division I era dating back to 2004 to begin the season with a 7-0 record.
- The 4-3 win is DBU's first one-run win of the season.
- Patriot pitching held the top two hitters in the Austin Peay batting order in Garrett Martin and Lyle Miller-Green hitless as the tandem combined to go 0-for-7.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
15 - The relief trio of Brady Rose, Kyle Amendt, and Zane Russell have combined to retire all 15 batters that they have faced in the series.
10 - DBU has stolen 10 bases in the series after swiping four today.
4 - Nathan Humphreys' four hits in the series have all been for extra bases as the Patriots' sophomore centerfielder has three doubles and one triple.
 
DAN HEEFNER ON SITUATIONAL HITTING IN THE 
"We had an eight-pitch walk to lead off that inning by Tom Poole and then Mann comes up and he walks as well. Then Jace Grady, who's been one of our better hitters for three straight years, lays down the bunt. Then Miguel gets a good pitch to drive on the first pitch that he sees and Rombach gets the ball into the air to bring in another run. That's a testament to what this team is like. It's each guy doing their job and passing it to the next guy and that played a big role in the win today."
 
UP NEXT
Tomorrow's series finale between DBU and Austin Peay at Horner Ballpark has been moved up to 12:00 p.m.

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