Game Day: ORU Baseball Set For Midweek Matchup Against OSU

Oral Roberts baseball will wrap up a five-game road swing Tuesday night at Oklahoma State. First pitch from Allie P. Reynolds Stadium is slated for 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Plus with Dave Hunziker and Tom Holliday on the call.

Geoff Haxton will have the radio call on AM 1550 in the Tulsa area and around the world for free through ORUAthletics.com. Fans can also follow along via Twitter @ORUBaseball for live updates throughout the game. 

SERIES HISTORY WITH OKLAHOMA STATE
Oral Roberts trails in the all-time series with the Cowboys, 34-31, but have won three of the last four meetings. In 2015, ORU swept the Cowboys in a home-and-home series, taking the first game in Stillwater, 4-2, before earning a 15-5 victory at J.L. Johnson Stadium in April. The Golden Eagles have won seven out of the last 10 games in the series going back to 2005, including two games in the Fayetteville Regional in 2006.

LOOKING AT THE COWBOYS
Oklahoma State enters Tuesday with a 19-12 overall record and sits at 4-5 in the BIG 12 after dropping a weekend series the Texas Tech. The team is led offensively by both J.R. Davis (.350) and Donnie Walton (.336). Sophomore Garrett Benge has tallied a team-high 21 RBI in 31 games played this season. As a club, the Cowboys boast one of the top ERA's (3.00) in the nation at 19th while the OSU defense sits sixth nationally with 37 double plays turned.

NATIONAL PITCHING HONORS
Oral Roberts redshirt senior Nick Wood collected the team's first individual accolade of the 2016 season Monday, by being named one of the Louisville Slugger National Players of the Week by Collegiate Baseball. Wood helped the Golden Eagles to a 6-0 victory over Western Illinois Saturday afternoon in Macomb. He held the Leathernecks to just one hit in the complete-game shutout while facing the minimum on number of batters and striking out seven. It marked the first time in seven seasons that an ORU pitcher went nine innings, giving up just one hit as Jerry Sullivan did so in 2009 against Centenary. The performance was also the first time an ORU pitcher went nine innings this season.

SUMMIT HONORS
For the second consecutive week, Oral Roberts baseball has been represented in the Summit League weekly awards. The Golden Eagles swept this week's awards as Matt Whatley and Nick Wood were named Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. Whatley earned his second Player of the Week honor after batting .571 (8-for-14) on the week. He accounted for 16 total runs (8 runs scored and 8 RBI) while slugging at a clip of .929. In total, the Claremore, Oklahoma native went for three extra-base hits including two double and a home run for 13 total bases. Nick Wood collected his second Summit League honor of the season after throwing a one-hit shutout while facing the minimum in a 6-0 victory at Western Illinois. It was the first time in his career that the Los Alamitos, California native had gone for a complete game. Wood struck out seven Leathernecks en route to his third win of the season.

SEND EM' HOME
Quietly turning into one of the teams' best options with runners on base, Brent Williams has put together a solid two weeks on the diamond. The junior has driven in at least one run in the last 10 games with 17 RBI during the span. He leads ORU with 32 RBI on the season and ranks second in the Summit League. He also leads the Golden Eagles with 10 multiple RBI games, including three games in which he recorded three RBI.

BRINGING IT ON DOWN
Right-hander Nick Wood has allowed just five earned runs in 35.1 innings of work this season. He sits at the top of the club with a 1.27 ERA which ranks 17th in the country. In total, Wood has allowed only two earned runs in his last 25 innings pitched, including a nine-inning one-hitter at Western Illinois.

TURN TWO
The Golden Eagles have been keen to getting out of trouble when opponents put runners on base this season, turning 32 double plays on the year. Against Little Rock, ORU was able to turn nine during the series. As a club, the Golden Eagles rank 19th in the nation in the category.

DIG FOR TWO
ORU ranks tops in the Summit League and 13 nationally with 75 doubles headed into Tuesday's game with the Cowboys. Against Kansas State, the Golden Eagles went for six doubles, including two by senior Chase Stafford who leads the club with 15 on the season. Stafford ranks seventh in the nation in the category and of his 27 base hits, 15 are two-baggers.

SUCCESS WITH THE BIG BOYS
The Golden Eagles fared especially well against the BIG 12 during the 2015 season, finishing the year 5-1 against the power conference after defeating Oklahoma, No. 12 Texas Tech and No. 10 Oklahoma State on the road, ORU also took down the Cowboys and Red Raiders at J.L. Johnson Stadium. Oral Roberts has won five of the last six meetings with the Cowboys in Stillwater or at neutral sites. ORU has four wins over Power Five conference members this season, including wins at Auburn, Mississippi State, Kansas State as well as a home victory over the Sooners.