THE RUNDOWN
No. 13 DBU edged past Jacksonville State, 2-1, on Thursday at Worthington Field in Lynchburg, Virginia, to stay unbeaten at the Conference USA Tournament. A dominant relief outing from sophomore right-hander James Ellwanger, who struck out a career-high 12 batters, and a walk-off sacrifice fly by Ben Tryon in the bottom of the ninth secured the Patriots' 40th win of the season.
 
Making his first start since April 25, Micah Bucknam set the tone with three perfect innings, striking out two. From there, Ellwanger took over in the fourth and was electric the rest of the way, allowing just four hits, two walks, and throwing 89 pitches over six shutout frames.

Jacksonville State's Jackson Phipps matched the intensity on the other side, striking out a career-high 12 Patriots over eight strong innings.

The Gamecocks struck first in the fourth inning, breaking a scoreless tie on a double steal attempt when Ellwanger struck out Ace Williamson and Adam Berghult gunned down Brady Thomas at second, allowing Grayson Ashe to race home for the game's first run.

DBU answered in the fifth as Chayton Krauss ripped a double down the right field line that bounced over the wall.  Michael Dattalo followed with a clutch opposite-field double to bring Krauss home and tie the game at one apiece.

That score held until the ninth. With James Wilson on in relief for Jacksonville State, Tom Poole singled to right to lead off the frame. Joey Nerat entered as a pinch-runner and advanced to second on a walk by Krauss. Dattalo then notched his second hit of the night, a single to right that loaded the bases. With one out, Ben Tryon lofted a fly ball down the left field line, deep enough to score Nerat from third and hand the Patriots the walk-off victory.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- DBU is now just one win from advancing to its third consecutive C-USA Championship game.
- The Patriots have now won six straight C-USA Tournament games and are 9-1 all-time in the tournament.
- Chayton Krauss and Michael Dattalo combined for four of DBU's five hits, with each tallying a double. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
40 - DBU secures its 40th win of the season, reaching the 40-win mark in 10 of the last 11 years.
14 - James Ellwanger and Micah Bucknam combined for 14 strikeouts against Jacksonville State.
55 - Grant Jay's streak of reaching base safely ends at 55 consecutive games.

UP NEXT
DBU will take on the winner of Louisiana Tech and Jacksonville State on Saturday at 12:30 p.m., with a spot in the CUSA Championship game on the line.

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