Solo Homer From Cummings Seals Victory For ORU

 A solo home run from Noah Cummings in the seventh inning pushed the Oral Roberts baseball team past Western Illinois, 6-5, Saturday afternoon at J.L. Johnson Stadium. The win marked the 10th straight at home for the Golden Eagles as they improve to 28-16 overall and 17-6 in Summit League action.

The Golden Eagles looked to have everything under control, leading 5-0 heading to the fourth. That was when Western Illinois took advantage of three errors in the inning from ORU fielders to put a four-spot on the board and pull within one run.

The Leathernecks (13-29, 10-13) would eventually tied the ballgame at five on Adam McGinnis homered to left field in the fifth inning. Western steadily put runners on base and looked to take the lead in the seventh after loading the bases with one out.

That was when the Golden Eagles called on senior Nathan Garza to clean things up on the mound. The right-hander came into the game and struck out two straight to end the WIU threat. Garza also finished off the eighth with a pair of strikeouts to shut down another Leatherneck rally as he picked up his first win of the season.

Junior Brady Womacks collected his ninth save of the season after sitting down Western in order in the ninth.

Cummings led the way offensively for the Golden Eagles, going 2-for-3 with three RBI and a walk on the day. Trevor McCutchin and Chase Stafford each finished with a pair of hits and RBI each in the game as well.  

Notables

- The Golden Eagles improve to 4-1 on the season against Western Illinois and 66-8 all-time in the series. 

- The win was the 10th straight at J.L. Johnson Stadium. The team last loss at home came on Mar. 25 to IPFW, 6-3.

- Noah Cummings' home run in the seventh was his third of the season.

- Nick Wood struck out seven and allowed just one earned run in four and two-third innings in the starts.

- ORU retired 14 Leathernecks via the strikeout on the day.

- WIU left 12 runners on base compared to ORU's six.

Up Next

The Golden Eagles will celebrate Mother's Day, as well as Senior Day Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. All mothers get free admission into the game.