THE RUNDOWN
No. 11 DBU (44-13, 25-5) carried their offensive momentum from Wednesday into Thursday with a 10-2 victory against Western Kentucky (32-25, 16-14) at Reckling Park. DBU has scored at least 10 runs in both of their Conference USA Tournament games.
 
Like the day prior, the Patriots jumped out to an early lead thanks to a multi-run first inning. Jace Grady needed to see only one pitch before he homered to center field to lead off the bottom half of the frame. Kodie Kolden and Nathan Humphreys advanced as far as second and third to set up Ethan Mann for a bases-clearing, two-RBI double. Mann would go on to reach third base before Alex Pendergast drove him in as DBU's fourth run.
 
WKU pushed a run across in the second off an AJ Fiechter single for their first tally of the night, but they would not light up the scoreboard again until the fifth when Aidan Gilroy scored Brett Blomquist on a sacrifice fly.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, the Patriots answered the Hilltoppers' two runs with two productive outs off the bats of Tom Poole and George Specht for a 6-2 advantage.
 
The first two WKU batsmen reached base in the sixth, putting runners on the corners for Kirk Liebert. Patriot starter Braxton Bragg, who threw three strikeouts in 5.0 innings, was subsequently replaced by Zane Russell out of the bullpen.
 
Russell walked Liebert to load the bases with an out yet to be recorded, but he settled in immediately afterward, punching out the next two batters and inducing a groundout to escape the inning without surrendering a run.
 
Russell and fellow reliever Matt Bollenbacher allowed only one Hilltopper to reach base for the remainder of the game as Humphreys added four runs to the DBU line via a two-run home run and a two-RBI double to solidify a 10-2 win for the Patriots.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Nathan Humphreys collected at least four RBI for the fourth time this season.
- Zane Russell has fanned at least four opposing hitters in five consecutive appearances.
- The DBU bullpen did not surrender a run for the third straight game.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
5 - Five Patriots (Humphreys, Jace Grady, Kodie Kolden, Ethan Mann, and Miguel Santos) recorded an extra-base hit.
13 - Nathan Humphreys extended his career-high hit streak to 13 games.
76 - Driving in his 76th runner of the year on Thursday, Ethan Mann is only five RBI behind Jason Krizan for the most RBI in a season in program history (81).
 
DAN HEEFNER ON ZANE RUSSELL
"Zane Russell has been our guy for three years now. We have a ton of confidence with him at the end of the game, and he can stretch too. He's not just a one-inning bullpen-type guy. Braxton [Bragg] did a super job for us, but when you got a guy like Zane Russell there in a tight game… it was a no-brainer to go to Zane."
 
UP NEXT
The Patriots get the day off on Friday before playing the winner of Florida Atlantic versus Western Kentucky on Saturday.
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