ORU Ready To Defend Turf As Summit League Tournament Play Begins

Oral Roberts University opens the Summit League tournament Wednesday night at 6:00 against South Dakota State at J.L. Johnson Stadium.

It’s the 15th time the Golden Eagles have played host to the conference tournament, an advantage they both enjoy and don’t take likely.

"Yeah, gotta take care of the hometown tradition. And then all the guys before us, they put in all their blood, sweat and tears just like we have," pitcher Kyler Stout said.

Through last season, ORU has lost a grand total of three games in Summit League tournament play, and are looking for their fourth consecutive title, and no one wants to be the team that ends the streak.

"It would be embarrassing, honestly. We expect to win this. We expect to play good ball at home in the tournament. So, we hope to keep the tradition going," outfielder Noah Cummings said.

Head coach Ryan Folmar said, "This is a much different team. It has a much different personality than we did a year ago, but I know this, I know we're ready to go. We're ready to play. Our guys are excited for the weekend."

After a mid-season stumble that saw them lose four of their first five in April, ORU comes into the tournament hot – 24-6 in conference, 10 more wins than second-place Western Illinois.

"We've been just going, playing one game at a time, getting one percent better every day, just doing our thing, and we're playing our best baseball right now," said infielder Nick Roark.

Translation? Good luck to the rest of the league.