DALLAS (Interstat) — Liam Watt pitched eight innings of two-hit shutout ball and three Dallas Baptist hitters homered as the Patriots blanked Kennesaw State 6-0 on Wednesday night at Ellis Davis Field House in a Conference USA game.

Watt, a right-hander, improved to 6-2 on the season, striking out six and walking none while allowing only two singles. He faced just three batters over the minimum and retired the final 10 Owls he faced before being lifted after the eighth.

Dallas Baptist, now 32-24, scored all its runs on three home runs. Ben Tryon hit a two-run shot in the sixth inning, Mac Rose added a two-run homer in the eighth and Brooks Sartain followed with a solo blast later in the same frame.

Kennesaw State, which dropped to 25-27, managed only two hits. Chris Cole singled in the second inning and Wesley Alig singled in the eighth.

The game was scoreless through the first five innings as Watt dueled with Kennesaw State starter Nolan Sliver. Sliver pitched four and two-thirds hitless innings, allowing only an unearned run on a passed ball in the first inning. He struck out four and walked one before leaving with one out in the fifth.

Dallas Baptist took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first without a hit. Cooper Neville singled through the right side, advanced to third on a single by Chayton Krauss, then scored when Krauss moved to second on a passed ball. The rally fizzled when Ben Tryon grounded out and Jake Ben struck out.

Both pitchers settled in after that. Watt set down the Owls in order in the second, third and fourth innings, striking out three. Sliver faced the minimum from the second through the fourth, working around a two-out single by Luke Pettitte in the third.

The decisive inning was the sixth. With one out, Chayton Krauss singled through the right side off reliever Cooper McMullen. Tryon then homered to right field, his seventh of the year, scoring Krauss to make it 3-0. After Jake Ben struck out, Rose singled and Dylan Schlaegel walked. Daniel Powell relieved McMullen and gave up an infield single to Sartain that loaded the bases, but Dylan Cupp popped out and Neville flied out to end the threat.

Kennesaw State’s best chance came in the eighth. Alig led off with a single to left, his team’s second hit of the game. Chris Cole sacrificed him to second. Aaron Posey, pinch-hitting, flied out to right, allowing Alig to advance to third. But Josh Gibbs struck out swinging to end the inning.

Dallas Baptist put the game away in the bottom of the eighth. Jake Ben led off with a single to left center off Powell. Rose then homered to right center, his fourth of the season, scoring Ben and extending the lead to 5-0. After Schlaegel struck out, Peter Jezerinac relieved Powell. Sartain greeted him by homering to right center, his sixth of the year, making it 6-0. Ryan Renfroe relieved Jezerinac and retired the next two batters.

Athan Kroll pitched a perfect ninth for Dallas Baptist, striking out one.

Rose finished 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. Sartain also was 2-for-4 with a homer and an RBI. Tryon was 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. Neville and Krauss each had two hits for the Patriots.

For Kennesaw State, Sliver took the loss, falling to 4-3. He allowed one unearned run on one hit in four and two-thirds innings. McMullen, Powell, Jezerinac and Renfroe combined to allow five earned runs on six hits in three and one-third innings.

The win was the second in three games for Dallas Baptist against Kennesaw State this season, after the Owls won the first meeting 5-4 on April 4 in Kennesaw, Georgia. The Patriots took the other two games of that series, 7-5 and 10-5.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Kennesaw State 6, Dallas Baptist 5. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Dallas Baptist with a 69.90 percent probability to win.