Golden Eagles Claim Summit League Title

A 10 run seventh inning put an exclamation point on a series sweep for the Oral Roberts baseball team of IPFW as the 14-3 victory helped claim the 2015 Summit League Regular Season Championship.

The Golden Eagles won their seventh straight as they earned their 15th Summit League Regular Season title. ORU takes a four game lead over South Dakota State with three league games remaining to earn the No. 1 seed in the Summit League Tournament.

Five different players had multiple hits for ORU as Audie Afenir and Rolando Martinez each had three RBI in the win.

After being held hitless through the first four innings, the Golden Eagles pounded out 13 hits in the final four innings for their eighth run rule victory of the season.

Starter Bryce Howe earned the win after scattering five hits over 5.1 innings as just two of the runs allowed were earned. Howe also recorded five strikeouts and just one walk to improve to 3-1 on the year.

Individual Leaders

Oral Roberts: Anthony Sequeira went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Derrian James was also 3-for-5 with three runs scored and a pair of RBI.

IPFW: Lucas Salerno finished 2-for-3 with a run scored. Greg Kaiser also hit a double for the second extra base hit of the day.

Inside the Box Score

- The Golden Eagles win their 15th Regular Season Summit League Championship and have won the regular season title every season since 1999 with the exception of the last two years as members of the Southland Conference.

- ORU has swept the season series with both Omaha and IPFW this year and have the chance to sweep Western Illinois next weekend.

- Matt Whatley extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

- The 10 runs in the seventh inning were the most since ORU scored 10 runs in the third inning against Eastern Michigan on Feb. 24, 2012.

- ORU is now 18-5 in road games and holds the sixth best road record in NCAA baseball. The 18 road wins are the most in the nation and one better than Illinois at 17-2.

- ORU has won 25 of their last 28 games dating back to March 20.

Scoring Summary

- IPFW took its first lead of the series when Whitman singled home Soat to take a 1-0 lead. Soat led off the inning with a walk and moved to third on a throwing error before scoring.

- Timmerman singled in the bottom of the second inning to score Salerno and give the Mastodons a 2-0 lead. Salerno doubled of the centerfield wall to start the inning.

- Whatley led off the fourth inning with a double and scored on a RBI single from James for the Golden Eagles' first run of the game.

- James would score two batters later from first on a single to center by Sequeira to tie the game at 2-2.

- ORU took the lead in the top of the sixth inning when Sequeira scored on a single from Afenir after reaching on a double. Afenir would touch home when the next batter, Martinez singled home the senior to put ORU up 4-2.

- IPFW cut the ORU lead to one in the bottom of the sixth when Baker doubled in the gap in left to score Kaiser who doubled earlier in the inning.

- The Golden Eagles broke the game open in the seventh inning scoring 10 runs on six hits and three errors. James scored after singling to lead off the inning when Sequeira poked a single to left.

- Martinez cleared the bases with a double in the corner as Brandy and Sequeira both scored to put ORU up 7-3.

- Whatley blasted his second double of the day to score both Stafford and Emmanuel Forcier who pinch ran for Domenico.

- After Brandy and James both reached base for the second time in the seventh inning, Afenir singled through the right side as both runners scored. James singled home Whatley as the Golden Eagles' lead reached 13-3.

- Martinez also reached again in the inning on a IPFW error as pinch hitter Mason Mantle scored putting ORU on top 14-3.

Up Next

ORU heads to Wichita State Tuesday in the only meeting between the two teams this season. The Golden Eagles and Shockers first meeting scheduled in mid-February was cancelled due to winter weather. First pitch from Eck Stadium is set for 6:30 p.m.