THE LEAD
A 14-hit attack helped No. 9 Dallas Baptist stave off elimination in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, as DBU cruised to a 12-5 win over Indiana State on Friday at Eck Stadium in Wichita, Kansas.  Five different Patriots (43-12) posted mulit-hit games, as both Justin Wall and Daniel Salters led the offensive charge with a home run each and six RBI's between the two.  On the mound, Sean Stutzman improved to 7-1, while freshman, Gavin Fritz, recorded the first save of his career in three-plus innings of scoreless relief.
 
After surrendering a run in each of the first two innings, Stutzman settled into a groove to keep the Sycamores scoreless over the next three innings.  Down 2-0 into the top of the third, Justin Wall blasted his tenth home run of the year, a towering two-run shot over the fence in left center off of Sycamores' starter, Greg Kuhlman. 
 
A sacrifice fly by David Martinelli put the Patriots on top of Indiana State (28-26) in the fourth, before DBU's offense busted the game open in the fifth.  Following three consecutive singles from Wall, Nash Knight, and Tagg Duce, Drew Turbin laced a two-run single into right.  One batter later, Trooper Reynolds drove a double into the gap in left center, plating two more Patriot runs.  DBU would not be finished though, as Daniel Salters stepped to the plate next and drove a Mike Eberle pitch over the wall in center for his fourth home run of the year to put the Patriots ahead, 9-2. 
 
ISU picked up three runs in their half of the sixth, chasing Stutzman from the game after five and two-third innings on the hill.  Fritz would come in to silence the Sycamores the rest of the way, while the DBU offense added three runs of their own in the seventh, as an RBI single by Reynolds and a two-run single Salters made it 12-5 DBU.
 
With the win, the Patriots advance to face Bradley later this afternoon.  The Braves have won each of their games in the tournament, including wins over Evansville and Indiana State.
 
DBU HEAD COACH, DAN HEEFNER – ON THE JOB DONE BY STUTZMAN AND FRITZ
"It was big for Sean to come out today and give us the innings he did.  You could tell he didn't have a real comfortable feel early in the game, but I was impressed with how he made some adjustments and was able to go deeper into the game.  His start, along with what Gavin gave us today, really helps us conserve out pitching, which is something we want to be careful with as we get close to the regional next week."
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
1 – DBU Head Coach, Dan Heefner, is one win shy of career win No. 300.
14 – The most hits by the Patriots since DBU had 16 hits in a win over UT-Arlington on May 5.
10 – Justin Wall becomes the first Patriot this year to reach double-digits in home runs, as he hit his 10th of the year today.
 
UP NEXT FOR THE PATRIOTS
DBU faces Bradley 50 minutes after the completion of the Wichita State and Southern Illinois game today.  Check dbupatriots.com for updates.