THE RUNDOWN
Tuesday night, DBU (26-19, 14-7 CUSA) defeated Abilene Christian (21-23, 4-5 WAC) by a score of 16-4, needing just eight innings to finish the job. The Patriots outscored the Wildcats 16-1 in the final four innings of tonight's game, headlined by a seven-run fifth inning that saw 12 hitters come to the plate. The DBU bullpen tossed 7.2 innings of one-run ball to put the 'Cats away tonight.
​
Abilene Christian struck first tonight with a three-spot in the bottom of the first inning. With one out in the frame,
Russ Smith would be called out of the bullpen, and he would get the second and third outs on the first two hitters he faced.
​
Smith would be lifted with two outs in the third after walking a pair of hitters.
Dillon Haines would enter the contest and strike out the first Wildcat he faced on three pitches to end the inning.
​
Haines would deliver a scoreless fourth inning as well, before the Patriots exploded for seven runs in the top of the fifth.
Jake Bennett scored on a passed ball,
Ryan Martin drove home
Luke Pettitte on a sac fly,
Dylan Schlaegel drove in three with a bases-clearing double,
Keaton Grady scored Schlaegel on a single to right, and
Jake Bennett drove in Grady on a double to right.
​
Avery Duncan would come in for the bottom half of the fifth and would escape a one-out, bases-loaded jam with back-to-back strikeouts to preserve the 7-3 lead.
​
Both sides went three-up, three-down in the sixth, before DBU tallied another five runs in the seventh.
Keaton Grady punched an RBI single through the right side before
Luke Pettitte drove him in on a run-scoring groundout. In consecutive at-bats later in the inning,
Chayton Krauss ripped a two-run double to center, and
Ryan Martin drove in
Mac Rose on a sac fly.
​
After walking in a run in the bottom half of the seventh, the Patriots led 12-4.
​
With runners on second and third and one away in the top of the eighth,
Jake Bennett lofted a sac fly to score
Dylan Schlaegel, before later in the inning,
Luke Pettitte and
Mac Rose crushed back-to-back home runs to make it a 16-4 ballgame.
​
JT Long was given the keys to try to cement the run-rule victory, and he struck out the side on 13 pitches, giving DBU its 26th win of the year.
​
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- 16 runs is tied for the second most that DBU has scored in a single game this season.
- The Patriots have scored 50 runs in their last four games.
-
Russ Smith has an elite 1.20 ERA in his last five outings.
​
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
.500 - Tonight's win brings DBU's record on Tuesday's to 5-5 thus far into 2026.
11 - The Patriots walked 11 hitters tonight, and for the first time this season, won a game where they allowed ten or more walks (1-2).
10 -
Dillon Haines has struck out ten hitters in his last four relief outings (4.2 IP).
​
ON DECK
The Patriots will return to Horner Ballpark to take on Louisiana Tech (27-19, 14-7 CUSA) in a three-game series this weekend. Friday's first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
