Fort Worth Regional Previews: Meet the Dallas Baptist Patriots

Today we’ll be finishing up our previews of the Fort Worth Regional teams by taking a look at the Beavers first opponent, the Dallas Baptist Patriots. The Beavers and DBU have some history; the Patriots were the team that knocked Oregon State out of the 2015 Tournament, when they hosted the Dallas Regional. Here’s what the Patriots look like this year.

• Record: 37-15 (18-6 in Missouri Valley Conference)
• RPI: 44th
• Team Hitting: 2.90 Team Batting Average (40th overall)
• Team Pitching: 4.15 Team ERA (48th overall)
• Best Hitter: Jackson Glenn
• Best Pitcher: Dominic Hamel
• Head Coach: Dan Heefner (14th season, 512-268 overall record)
• Last Tournament Appearance: 2019 (Eliminated 1-2 in Lubbock Regional)

Dallas Baptist was the class of the Missouri Valley Conference, cruising through their conference schedule and the conference tournament with a few hiccups here and there. They won their first three MVC Tournament games in blowout fashion, before going to extra innings to take down Indiana State in the finals.

They hit double digit runs in each of those games, and that doesn’t seem to be a rare thing for the Patriots. DBU has three batters who have broken the 1.000 OPS mark. Second Baseman Jackson Glenn leads the way with a 1.176, along with 75 hits and 19 home runs. Glenn was named a Second Team All American by Collegiate Baseball, and is going to be one of the most dangerous players to face in Fort Worth.

He’s surrounded by a very deep lineup. Jace Grady and Cole Moore are the other two hitters in the 1.000 OPS club, and River Town also cracked 100 total bases, and Blayne Jones was second on the team in home run hitting with 11. There’s not really a weakness in that lineup, just different strengths. If they find a groove earlier, they’re going to bury you in runs.

So do they have the pitching to back up all those runs? Some days. The team has one great starter in Dominic Hamel, who gave the Patritos another Collegiate Baseball All American, as a third teamer. Hamel has a 12-2 record this season, with a 3.71 ERA and a 1.-5 WHIP. He’s one of the best pitchers who will be in Fort Worth this weekend.

After that, things get tricky. The Patriots have started 5 other pitchers this season, but only one has gotten double digit starts. That would be Kyle Rich, with a 4.76 ERA and 1.39 WHIP. He’s solid, but nowhere near as reliable as Hamel. Luke Eldred is probably who DBU will be running as their starter for their first or second game, he’s come on strong to close out the season, in his 8 starts he’s piled up a 4-0 record, with a 1.86 ERA and an .83 WHIP.

The Patriots have looked great against Missouri Valley competition, so the big question will be how they match once they start playing major conferences. They’ve picked up some quality wins; two over Missouri and one over Oklahoma, but losg against Arizona in their toughest test this season. Despite being a three seed, on paper this team looks like they’ve got a great shot at making it to the next round.