THE RUNDOWN
The No. 23 Patriots bounced back to take game three over the Salukis by a score of 10-2 Sunday in Dallas, Texas. DBU shrugged off its early-inning woes, striking for five in the second frame as four Patriots left the yard to blow past the Salukis and salvage the series. On the mound,
Luke Eldred earned the win with one run allowed on three hits through 4.1 innings pitched. The victory snaps a three-game losing skid and puts the Patriots (24-15, 5-4) a game back of first place in the Missouri Valley standings.Â
Luke Eldred retired the first six Salukis (28-11, 6-3) to set the stage for a crooked number in the bottom of the second inning.
Cole Moore crushed a 2-0 offering over the left-field wall to get the action started and give DBU a 1-0 lead. Not to be outdone,
Blayne Jones stepped up to the plate and left the yard for his 200th career hit. After the back-to-back solo shots,
Luke Heefner singled and
Ryan Wrobleski drew a walk to put pressure on SIU starting pitcher Ben Chapman.Â
Chapman would be chased out of the game on a two-run triple from
Nathan Humphreys that was drilled to right-center field before a sacrifice fly from
Miguel Santos concluded the five-run outburst.Â
DBU refused to take its foot off the gas. In the third,
Nate Rombach recorded the first of his game-high three hits on an RBI single into left field that made it a 6-0 ballgame. Following a pitching change,
Ryan Wrobleski came home on a
Nathan Humphreys sacrifice fly that extended the lead.Â
After a stellar start that spanned four innings, the Salukis finally scratched a run across
Luke Eldred to cut into their 7-0 deficit. But the biggest moment of the game arrived with one out and loaded bases in the fifth frame when
Chandler Arnold stepped onto the hill to face SIU slugger Kaeber Rog. Arnold would ground Rog into a double play that ended the inning and prevented any further damage.Â
Leading 7-1, Arnold and the defense turned another double play and the offense struck for two more in a dominant sixth inning for the Pats. After
Jace Grady reached on a leadoff walk,
Andrew Benefield crushed a two-run bomb over the left-field wall to pad the score. Â
Both clubs struck for one more run in the seventh as the Salukis grounded in a run and
Nate Rombach homered on a solo shot to left-center that ended the action.
Relievers
Zach Heaton and
Kyle Amendt allowed just one hit over the last two innings to keep the SIU bats silent and wrap up the 10-2 win.Â
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOWÂ
-Nobody struck out for the Patriots for the first time since May of 2015.
-With his 215th career start,
Blayne Jones tied Austin Knight (2007-2010) for the second-most in the DI era.Â
-The Patriots remain undefeated (10-0) in series finales. Â
INSIDE THE NUMBERSÂ
5 -
Miguel Santos hit his fifth triple of the season, a mark that leads the MVC and is tied for the second-most in the country.Â
.308 - The Pats were opportunistic at the plate, going 4-13 (.308) with runners on the basepaths.
8 -
Blayne Jones and
Nate Rombach each hit their team-high eighth home run of the year.Â
COACH DAN HEEFNER ON THE WIN & THE OFFENSE
"Obviously this was a must-win... One thing we talked about is that there have been a lot of championship teams over the years that have had a turning point moment and had to go through some adversity. Those moments force you to make decisions about who you are and how you're going to go about stuff... Offensively we have been working on what it means to have a quality at bat and how to put pressure on people. So its a great sign that we had nobody strike out today."Â
NATE ROMBACH ON HIS SEASON-HIGH THREE HITSÂ
"I was just trying to find good pitches to hit. I wanted to have good at bats and do everything I could to help the team win. Luckily I was able to get a few over the plate and get some good barrel on it. Hopefully, those good at bats will roll over into Tuesday."Â
ON DECKÂ
The Patriots head to Lupton Stadium on April 26 to face the TCU Horned Frogs in Fort Worth for the first time since winning the Fort Worth Regional last season.
