THE RUNDOWN
In a game split into two days by a weather delay, No. 17 DBU (32-10, 16-3) took the series opener from Rice (17-24, 7-12) in extra innings. Grant Jay came through for DBU on day two, hitting a game-tying home run in the top of the 9th and adding an RBI double in the 12th. 
 
On Friday night, five consecutive Owls reached base with two outs to start the scoring, with Manny Garza driving home a run on an RBI single and Pierce Gallo drawing a bases-loaded walk to give their squad a 2-0 lead.
 
Rice starting pitcher Parker Smith kept the Patriot bats quiet, limiting DBU to only one hit through four innings, but Tom Poole broke the silence with a leadoff home run in the fifth.
 
Down, 2-1, in the sixth, Ethan Mann was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and Miguel Santos saw Smith's 101st and last pitch of the night, one that he took to the left field wall for an RBI double to even the score. Nathan Humphreys immediately followed suit with a left-field double of his own, swapping spots with Santos and putting the Patriots ahead, 3-2.
 
In the home half of the sixth, Jacob Devenny reached base on a fielding error by Jaron DeBerry and came around to score when Guy Garibay Jr. hit a sacrifice fly off Alec Baker to tie the game. Three straight hits with one out swayed the game back in favor of the Owls in the seventh, but Alec Baker and Nate Rombach teamed up to prevent a squeeze play and keep the game at 4-3.
 
Rice put a tally on the board again in the next frame with a solo shot by Garibay. Moments after the home run, the game was placed under a weather delay. A few moments later, the series opener was postponed with DBU trailing, 5-3, and no outs in the bottom of the eighth.
 
Play resumed at 2:00 pm on Saturday, beginning with Zane Russell keeping the Owls to the lone run in the eighth. Russell would go on to work 3.0 innings of shutout baseball.
 
Kodie Kolden singled to commence the top of the ninth. After a Poole strikeout, freshman Grant Jay belted a towering fly ball to center field for a game-tying two-run home run.
 
In the 12th, the DBU offense broke through as Santos walked and advanced to third base to set up the go-ahead sacrifice fly by Kolden. Poole and Jay kept the tide flowing with a pair of extra-base hits to extend the lead to 8-5.
 
Kyle Amendt took the mound in the bottom of the 12th, keeping Rice to just one run and striking out the side to earn his 10th save of the year.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- DBU improves to 2-2 in extra-inning affairs this season.
- Patriot pitching recorded 15 or more strikeouts for the seventh time this year.
- Kyle Amendt's 10th save moves him into sole possession of sixth place on the program's single-season saves list.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
8 - Eight of DBU's strikeouts came in extra innings.
10 - The Patriots' four through eight hitters accounted for 10 of the team's 11 hits.
12 - Twelve innings is the most innings DBU has played in a victory since March 22, 2019, versus Air Force.
 
UP NEXT
The Patriots in the Owls play the second game of the series at approximately 4:15 pm.
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