Furmanek Steals the Show as ORU Cruises

Originally Published: May 20, 2010 11:6 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

TULSA, Oklahoma – Seth Furmanek carried the Oral Roberts baseball team on the mound and at the plate as the Golden Eagles rolled to a 9-2 victory over North Dakota State Thursday.

Furmanek finished just shy of a complete game and also blasted two home runs and drove in four runs. He drove in the game’s first run on a solo homer in the second inning, but the Golden Eagles (30-24, 17-8) really blew things open in the third.

ORU batted around in the inning and scored six runs, highlighted by Furmanek’s second blast, this time a three-run shot. P.J. Sequeira also had an RBI double, Tyler Saladino added an RBI single, and Chris Elder scored on a throwing error to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead. It was smooth sailing from there.

Furmanek did not give up his first hit until the sixth inning or his first run until the eighth. After leading off the eighth with a double, Michael Riewer later scored on a ground ball to put NDSU (21-28, 10-14) on the board.

The Golden Eagles left Furmanek in the game in the ninth, trying to give a complete game. But he gave up a hit and two walks to load the bases, and was pulled in favor of Jameson Dunn. Dunn forced a ground ball against his first batter, which drove in a run that was also credited to Furmanek. Dunn then struck out the final batter to end the game.

Furmanek was credited with the win after pitching 8.1 innings and giving up just two runs on four hits while striking out seven. Kyle Kingsley came away with a loss after struggling through 2.2 innings, giving up six earned runs on seven hits.

The Golden Eagles have won three of their last four games, and will face NDSU in a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. Friday.