THE RUNDOWN
A late surge by No. 12 DBU (34-11), including three home runs in the eighth, fell three runs shy of Oklahoma (25-20) at Horner Ballpark on Tuesday night. It was only the Patriots' third loss at home in 2023.
 
The Sooners' bats were hot early, as they put up two runs in the first and scored at least one in the next five innings.
 
Hits alluded DBU until Tom Poole doubled to lead off the third. He advanced to third base on a wild pitch and crossed the plate on a groundout by Alex Pendergast for the Patriots' first tally.
 
In the fifth, Pendergast drove an 0-1 pitch to left field for his home run in the navy and red, reducing the margin to 8-2.
 
Three innings later, DBU found some momentum. With one out, Grant Jay delivered a solo home run to right-center field. Jace Grady then followed suit with a homer to the same part of the ballpark for back-to-back round-trippers.
 
Miguel Santos accepted a free pass to first base when he took a pitch to the arm, which set up Nathan Humphreys for a two-run home run, the third long shot of the frame.
 
Down 10-6, Brady Rose threw a scoreless inning, like fellow relievers Reece Beuter and Cole Reeves before him, to set up a potential comeback for the Patriots in the bottom of the ninth.
 
The first two batters walked back to the dugout empty-handed, but George Specht walked and later scored on an RBI single by Jace Grady.
 
Santos worked an eight-pitch at-bat but watched strike three, and DBU ended the night in the loss column.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- The Patriots are now 21-3 at home this year.
- Alex Pendergast hit his first career home run on Tuesday. He has recorded a hit in all four of his starts this season.
- Cole Reeves made his first appearance since March 14. He threw 1.0 scoreless inning and struck out one batter.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
4 - Four Patriots homered on Tuesday (Jace Grady, Nathan Humphreys, Alex Pendergast, George Specht).
4.75 - DBU has averaged 4.75 runs in the eighth and ninth innings over the last four games.
5 - Five of the six Patriot relievers registered a strikeout.
 
UP NEXT
DBU hosts Middle Tennessee this weekend in a Conference USA series. Game one is slated for Friday at 6:30 pm. Read Full Article