ORU Opens Summit League Tournament With 4-2 Win Over NDSU

The Oral Roberts baseball team overcame a first inning deficit to defeat North Dakota State, 4-2 in the opening game of the 2015 Summit League Tournament at Sioux Falls Stadium Wednesday afternoon.

North Dakota State's Danny Regan opened the game with a bang for the Bison as he battled in a 15-pitch at bat to pick up his first home run of the year and put NDSU on top quickly. The Bison loaded the bases and added another first inning run on a wild pitch, but that would be all they would score in the game.

Noah Cummings jumpstarted the offense in the fifth with a leadoff single, which was one of his three hits on the day. Cumming would later score on an infield single that was thrown away, allowing him to cross the plate for ORU's first run of the game.

Derrian James doubled in two runs later in the inning to give the Golden Eagles the 3-2 lead and Matt Brandy picked up his first triple of the year, scoring James and pushing the lead to 4-2.

The Golden Eagles would hold on to that lead thanks in part to Jacob McDavid, who came in and threw two and two-third innings of scoreless baseball.

Guillermo Trujillo won his tenth game of the season while Trent Keeper fell to 4-7 for the Bison.

Individual Leaders

- Derrian James drove in the go-ahead runs, finishing with two RBI and 2-for-4.

- Noah Cummings finished the day 3-for-4 and scored a run.

- Jacob McDavid came into the game in relief and tossed 2.2 scoreless innings and did not allow a hit while striking out three.

- Anthony Sequeira picked up his 10th save of the season.

Inside the Box Score

- Oral Roberts has outscored North Dakota State 43-23 after seven games this season.

- Matt Whatley extended snapped hitting streak to 15 games after going 0-for-4.

- ORU has won 29 of their last 33 games dating back to March 20.

- Matt Brandy went for his first triple of the year as he drove in a run in the fifth.

- ORU moves to 50-2 all-time in The Summit League Tournament.

Scoring Summary

- Danny Regan led off with a homer to right-center to put the Bison on top in the first.

- A wild pitch with the bases loaded allowed Ben Peterson to score from third.

- Dean Wilson picked up a single on a bunt attempt before a wild throw allowed Noah Cummings to advance all the way from second and score.

- Derrian James went down the left field line for a two-run double to give the Golden Eagles their first lead of the game at 3-2.

- Brandy tripled to right-center to cap off the four run inning as he drove in James from second to increase the ORU lead to 4-2.

Up Next

The Golden Eagles will faceoff with either South Dakota State of IPFW in the second round. That game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at Sioux Falls Stadium.