Good Friday Proves Good For ORU Baseball

The league leading Golden Eagles started its three-game series against No. 3 South Dakota State Saturday afternoon, finishing with a 5-3 win over the Jackrabbits in game one.

The Golden Eagles first at bat wasn't successful; Matt Whatley struck out swinging, and Rolando Martinez and Matt Brandy each flied out.

A walk by Guillermo Trujillo started the bottom of one, before the team made its first out. Next, South Dakota State took a quick 1-0 lead after Luke Ringhofer smashed one in the right-center gap, scoring Paul Jacobson. Oral Roberts then proceeded to get out number two, before Reid Clary singled to left field, scoring Ringhofer. The two out rally continued when Tony Kjolsing socked one up the middle to bring in Clary. ORU finally made its third out on an infield fly.

Going into the second inning the Golden Eagles needed to rattle the bats as the team trailed 3-0.

Anthony Sequeira, batting .350 on the year, started an Oral Roberts comeback when he slammed one down the right field line. Audie Afenir then singled up the middle, advancing Sequeira. Next, Derrian James singled through the left side. With bases loaded and no outs, Nick Roark struck out swinging. Dean Wilson then went on to single to left-center, advancing runners and scoring Sequeira. After Chase Stafford was walked, ORU cut the game to just one run when Afenir was brought in. Following the walk, Oral Roberts tied up the game 3-3 when James scored. The Golden Eagles then took a 4-3 lead after a wild pitch allowed Whatley to steal home. The two-out rally came to an end after Brandy struck out looking.

The Jackrabbits took the plate with its eight and nine hole going down. Jacobson was then hit by a pitch. South Dakota State looked as if it was going to tie up the ball game when Jacobson advanced to third off of a throwing error, but Coppola flied out to end the inning.

The Golden Eagles took a 5-3 lead when James turned on his wheels to score from third base on a double from Roark. Wilson then struck out, making out number three.

Oral Roberts looked good at the plate as the team continued to control the game each at bat.

The Golden Eagles allowed a runner on base in the bottom of three, but quickly cleaned up the inning before taking the plate for the fourth time.

ORU had a short at bat, before the Jackrabbits went down in order. Going into the fifth inning, Oral Roberts had five runs, six hits, and two errors. South Dakota State had three runs, three hits, and one error.

Brandy got his 33rd hit of the year at the top of five with a single down the left side. Shortly after, Afenir advanced Brandy to second with a shot up the left side. The Golden Eagles didn't get the extra cushion they had hoped for after Roark flied out.

South Dakota State had another unfortunate at bat, going down in order with two strike outs and a ground out to second.

Going into six, neither team had seen a run since the third inning.

The sixth through the ninth were similar to the fifth as both teams held their same scores. 

Up Next

ORU will look to advance its nine-game win streak in game two on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.