THE RUNDOWN
On an overcast Saturday afternoon in Lafayette, Louisiana, the No. 17 Patriots (10-4) topped Louisiana (7-8) to force a series-deciding game on Sunday. Three multi-run innings by DBU kept the Patriots in the driver's seat throughout the contest.
 
The Ragin' Cajuns wasted no time getting on the board, manufacturing a run in the first inning with small ball and opportunistic baserunning. Leadoff man Luke Yuhasz reached base on a hit-by-pitch and advanced on a sacrifice bunt, wild pitch, and a batted ball that snuck through the right side of the infield for the game's first run. However, the Patriots answered almost immediately.
 
Tom Poole started the top of the second with a hit-by-pitch, and the DBU offense went to work.
The next four batters reached safely on two hits, an error, and a walk, including an RBI single by Adam Berghult. Luke Heefner ran off Louisiana's starting pitcher, Parker Dilhoff, with a walk, and Keaton Grady notched his first extra-base hit of his Patriot career with an RBI double to right field to give DBU four runs in the inning. Nathan Humphreys became the first out of the inning but not without production, plating Heefner from third on a sacrifice fly to center field. With two down, Chayton Krauss delivered one final blow for the inning, driving an RBI single to bring Grady home and cap off a six-run explosion. By the time the dust settled, DBU had flipped the script and carried a commanding 6-1 advantage into the bottom of the second.
 
Louisiana threatened in the third, putting two runners aboard with two outs. With Jerrod Jenkins taking over for James Ellwanger on the mound, Conor Higgs drove a ball to the right-center field wall, but Humphreys leaped and crashed into the wall, making a sensational grab to steal extra bases from Higgs and end a scoreless frame.
 
Both offenses were quiet in the fourth and fifth with JR Tollett on the bump for the Ragin' Cajuns and Jerrod Jenkins for DBU. Louisiana finally broke through in the sixth with four runs that ended Jenkins' outing and narrowed the difference to 6-5.
 
After an impressive six innings of shutout baseball from Tollett, Tom Poole's leadoff double in the eighth forced Louisiana to move to their second reliever. Facing the new arm, Riley Marcotte, Michael Dattalo made it back-to-back doubles for the Patriots, trading spots with Poole for a two-run lead. Two batters later, a grounder by Adam Berghult added another tally to increase the margin to 8-5.
 
In the ninth, the Patriots capitalized on miscues by the Ragin' Cajuns, scoring two more runs on a pair of errors and a wild pitch to reach 10 runs.
 
Ashton Branson finished his season-long outing of 2.2 innings, surrendering his only run in the last half-inning of the game. In the closer role, he sealed the game with two strikeouts, allowing just one hit and no walks, securing his first save and DBU's series-evening victory.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- DBU's three through seven hitters (Chayton Krauss, Tom Poole, Michael Dattalo, Joey Nerat, and Adam Berghult) provided seven of the Patriots' eight hits.
- Eight of the nine Patriots in the lineup scored a run.
- Tyler Schott made his first appearance out of the bullpen since February 16 versus North Dakota State. He posted one strikeout, no runs, and no hits in 0.2 innings.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
2 - Tom Poole and Michael Dattalo both recorded two runs and two hits.
3 - The Patriots mashed three doubles, their most in a game since smashing four versus SIU Edwardsville on February 23.
6 - DBU's six-run second inning is the most runs the Patriots have scored in one frame since posting eight in the first against SIU Edwardsville on February 22.
 
UP NEXT
The Patriots and the Ragin' Cajuns will play in a rubber match on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 pm. Read Full Article