THE RUNDOWN
Saturday night, DBU (23-16, 12-5 CUSA) came from behind to defeat Liberty (27-11, 12-5 CUSA) by a score of 7-6, evening the series and forcing a rubber match on Sunday.
Chayton Krauss lifted a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the eighth to put the Patriots ahead, before
Athan Kroll slammed the door, logging his eighth save of the year.
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Ryan Borberg and Liberty's Jaxon Lucas kept the game scoreless through the first two innings before the Patriots drew first blood in the bottom of the third.
Dylan Schlaegel drove in
Mac Rose on a fielder's choice, and in the next at-bat,
Luke Pettitte ripped an RBI single to left field, scoring
Landon Underhill.
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The Flames would answer in the top of the fourth, scratching across two runs. Both tallies would be unearned on Borberg's ledger.
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Chayton Krauss ripped a one-out double in the bottom of the fourth and advanced to third on a
Cooper Neville single.
Mac Rose would lift a sacrifice fly to center field to score Krauss, and give DBU a 3-2 lead through four innings.
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In the top of the fifth, Borberg was lifted for
Russ Smith with one out in the inning after allowing two baserunners. Both runners would go on to score, and Liberty held a 4-3 lead after the top of the fifth.
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The score would remain 4-3 until the eighth inning, when Liberty's Josh Campos lifted a two-run home run to left field. Heading into the bottom of the eighth, DBU trailed 6-3.
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Landon Underhill,
Dylan Schlaegel, and
Ben Tryon loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth, the latter two both reaching via full-count walks.
Ryan Martin drove in Underhill with an RBI groundout, bringing
Chayton Krauss to the plate with two outs. In a 0-1 count, Liberty's Cooper Harrington threw Krauss a belt-high 93 mph fastball, and Krauss belted it over the left field wall, giving the Patriots a 7-6 lead.
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In the top of the ninth,
Dan Heefner gave the ball to his closer,
Athan Kroll, and Kroll stranded two baserunners en route to forcing a decisive game three in the series.
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THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- During his active eight-game hit streak,
Chayton Krauss has recorded seven extra-base hits.
- There was a rain delay before tonight's game that lasted one hour and 40 minutes.
- In his last nine innings of work,
Russ Smith has struck out ten hitters and allowed just two earned runs.
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INSIDE THE NUMBERS
2 -
Chayton Krauss was responsible for both of DBU's extra-base hits tonight.
7 -
Athan Kroll has earned the save in each of his last seven opportunities.
3 -
Ryan Borberg has allowed just three runs in his last 15 innings pitched.
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ON DECK
The Patriots conclude their weekend set with the Flames tomorrow.
Jared Schaeffer is scheduled to take the hill at 12:05 p.m.
