Central Arkansas Defeats ORU To End Golden Eagles' Season

Oral Roberts was eliminated from the 2013 Southland Conference Tournament by Central Arkansas, 11-3, on Saturday morning at Constellation Field.

With the win, UCA (38-20) advances to play either Southeastern Louisiana or Lamar in the SLC Tournament Championship Game. The Bears have won four consecutive games in Sugar Land after dropping their tournament opener on Wednesday.

Kurt Giller (0-3) got the start and suffered the loss after giving up seven runs (four earned) in an inning and a third of action. Pitching on two days' rest, Caleb McClanahan (10-5) earned the win for UCA after allowing three runs in six innings of work.

The back half of the ORU bullpen gave the Golden Eagles a chance to rally, as Nathan Garza and Pepe Gomez combined to pitch 6.2 innings of scoreless relief down the stretch.

Logan Domenico led ORU at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI, while Brandon Healy and Jose Trevino each had two hits.

Jonathan Davis led the Bears with three RBI, while Forrestt Allday walked three times and scored three runs.

The loss officially snaps ORU's string of 15 consecutive conference tournament titles and NCAA Regional appearances.

Central Arkansas put up a crooked number in the top of the 1st inning. Allday walked to lead off the game and came around to score on an Ethan Harris single. He came home two batters later on a Michael Marietta double that hugged the first base line, and UCA had a 2-0 lead.

ORU pulled one back in their half of the 1st, plating a run on a Domenico double. But the Golden Eagles left runners on the corners and went to the 2nd inning trailing by a run, 2-1.

Things unraveled for the Golden Eagles in the 2nd, as one error and two other defensive miscues helped the Bears score five runs. Chris Townsend, Harris and Marietta came up with run-scoring hits to bump the UCA lead to 7-1.

A two out error on UCA gave the Golden Eagles some life in their half of the 2nd inning. The throwing error allowed Graham McIntyre to reach base, and he scored on a Kevin Cho single to cut the gap to 7-2.

It got worse in the 3rd inning, as the Bears plated four more runs. Brad Marchal capped the run with an RBI single, and Central Arkansas held an 11-2 lead.

The scoring stopped until the 6th inning, when ORU put a run on the board. A sacrifice fly from Chris Williams chased home Nate Goro and cut the gap to 11-3.

But ORU would not score again, suffering elimination in a conference postseason event for the first time since the 1984 Midwestern Collegiate Conference Tournament.

ORU ends the season with a record of 25-32.