Central Arkansas Rallies Past ORU

Central Arkansas rallied to beat ORU in the Southland Conference tournament on Friday evening, setting up an elimination game on Saturday between the two teams.

Friday, May 24th 2013, 9:25 pm

By: News On 6


Jonathan Davis came through with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth, capping a Central Arkansas comeback that ended with the Bears knocking off Oral Roberts University, 6-5, on day three of the 2013 Southland Conference Tournament.

The loss is ORU's first of the event and necessitates an elimination game between the two teams on Saturday morning at 9 a.m.

The winner of the elimination game will face either Lamar or Southeastern Louisiana later Saturday in the Championship Game.

The loss drops ORU to 25-31 overall while the Bears, who have won three straight after losing their SLC Tournament opener, improved to 37-20 overall.

Guillermo Trujillo (2-1) suffered the loss for ORU despite a valiant relief effort. Trujillo went three innings in relief of starter Tim Zufall, giving up four hits and two runs.

Zufall went 4.2 innings and was unable to hold an early 4-0 lead. The senior allowed three runs, all unearned, while walking six. Phillip Wilson pitched an inning and surrendered the tying run in the sixth inning, while Nathan Garza was on the mound for UCA's game-winning single.

Clint Green (4-2) pitched 3.2 innings of relief for UCA and earned the victory. Starter Ethan McKenzie went just 3.1 innings and allowed four runs.

Joey Migliaccio and Austen Colt tallied two hits each to pace the Golden Eagles, with Migliaccio scoring twice.

Garrett Brown was 3-for-5 to lead the Bears, with Michael Marietta and Justin Treece each coming up with two hits.

Oral Roberts got on the board in the top of the first, turning a walk and a single into a golden opportunity with no one out. But the Golden Eagles could muster only one run, on a Domenico groundout, to take a 1-0 lead.

Zufall found himself in a massive jam in the bottom half of the first, as two walks and a single loaded the bases for the Bears with only one out. But the senior buckled down, getting Michael Marietta to pop out and Scott Zimmerle to strike out, and the UCA threat was vanquished.

ORU scored a pair of second inning runs in the wildest possible way. Migliaccio led off the inning with a single and was headed to second on a perfectly-placed bunt by Colt. But UCA committed two errors on the play, throwing the ball away and then fumbling it into the stands, which allowed Migliaccio to jog all the way home uncontested. Later Colt scored on a groundout by Chris Williams, making the score 3-0 in favor of the Golden Eagles.

The bottom of the order again produced a run for ORU in the fourth inning. Migliaccio walked to lead off the frame and scored all the way from first on a Colt double to push the lead to 4-0.

Shaky defense cost the Golden Eagles in the fifth inning, leading to three unearned UCA runs. Kevin Cho dropped a fly ball off the bat of the leadoff hitter, setting the stage for a big inning. Ethan Harris drove home the first run with an RBI double, then Brown and Treece followed with run-scoring singles to cut ORU's lead to 4-3.

ORU missed an opportunity to reclaim momentum in the sixth inning. The Golden Eagles loaded the bases with one out on a Jose Trevino double and two walks, but Green entered the game to pitch for UCA and extinguished the fire. A Colt pop out and a Williams lineout kept the score 4-3.

Central Arkansas made the Golden Eagles pay in their half of the sixth. An opposite field single from Marietta chased home Harris and tied the game at 4-4.

After two innings of chipping away, the Bears overtook ORU in the seventh inning. Forrest Allday brought home the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly, though a double play ended the jam with the score 5-4 in UCA's favor.

ORU pulled even with some two out magic in the eighth inning. Nate Goro doubled into the left field corner, bringing Migliaccio up. The junior delivered, smacking a single up the middle to chasing Goro to the plate and tying the game at 5-5.

But Central Arkansas would complete their comeback with a walk-off win in the ninth inning. With two on and two out, Davis singled through the left side, bringing Brown home to give UCA a 6-5 victory.

The win is UCA's first of the year over the Golden Eagles after Oral Roberts swept a three-game regular season series in late March.

logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News on 6 delivered right to your inbox!

More Like This

May 24th, 2013

March 14th, 2024

December 4th, 2023

September 25th, 2023

Top Headlines

March 27th, 2024

March 27th, 2024

March 27th, 2024

March 27th, 2024