THE RUNDOWN
Saturday afternoon, DBU (4) fell to Jacksonville State (1) by a score of 6-5 in the semi-final round of the CUSA Tournament. For the second consecutive game, the Patriots lost control of a lead in the seventh inning or later.
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Chayton Krauss opened the scoring in the top of the first with his 50th career home run as a Patriot, a two-run shot with two away in the inning. The Gamecocks would scratch one run across in the bottom half on a sacrifice bunt, before
Russ Smith stranded a runner on second base with a fly out to right field.
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Smith and Jax State's Beau Bryans exchanged zeros in the second inning, before DBU got to Bryans again in the third:
Ben Tryon was hit by pitch with one away in the inning, and he would later come in to score on a
Dylan Schlaegel double down the first base line.
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The score would remain 3-1 until the bottom of the fifth, when the Gamecocks plated two runs to tie the game.
Dillon Haines would enter to record the last out of the frame, striking out the only hitter he faced.
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The Patriots retook the lead in the next half-inning, as
Mac Rose came in to score on a
Luke Pettitte RBI groundout.
Max Luzarraga would toss a zero in the bottom of the sixth, stranding runners on the corners.
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Jacksonville State would tie the game at four in the bottom of the seventh, and following a weather delay, Luke Williams gave the Gamecocks a 5-4 advantage with an RBI single in the eighth.
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In the top of the ninth,
Ben Tryon led off the inning with a double, and would come around to tie the game on a clutch one-out two-bagger from
Brooks Sartain.
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Following the double,
Dylan Schlaegel and
Cooper Neville drew consecutive full-count walks, but the Patriots could not take back the lead after loading the bases with one out.
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In the bottom of the ninth, Jacksonville State also loaded the bases with one out before Cooper Blauser drew a four-pitch walk, effectively ending the contest.
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Following today's game, DBU had drawn nine or more walks six different times this season.
- After homering today,
Chayton Krauss is the only Patriot in program history to accumulate 200 hits, 200 runs batted in, and 50 home runs with the club.
- DBU hitters left 13 runners on base today.
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INSIDE THE NUMBERS
119 -Â The Patriots tied the program single-season home run record with 119 big flies this year (2023).Â
80% - After succeeding on both of his stolen base attempts today,
Dylan Schlaegel was 16/20 on the basepaths in 2026.
4 -
Chayton Krauss' first-inning homer snapped a personal four-game streak of zero extra-base hits (leads team with 32 XBH).
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ON DECK
The 2026 NCAA DI Baseball Championship Selection Show will air at 11:00 AM CST on Monday, May 25th, on ESPN2. The show will reveal the 16 host schools and the remaining 48 programs in the 64-team field.
