Oral Roberts Slams SIUE In Doubleheader

It was a good day for ORU baseball, as the team took down Southern Illinois Univeristy-Edwardsville twice on Friday. The back-to-back wins moved the Golden Eagles to 4-1 on the season.

Game 1

Matt Brandy showed up with the boom stick, helping ORU gain an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

By the time the second rolled around, the Golden Eagles had cooled down, going three up three down.

Guillermo Trujillo struck out two Cougars in the top of three, stopping SIUE. That same inning, ORU moved base runners, but couldn't score them. The team retired the inning after the Cougars turned a double play.

SIUE threatened ORU's lead in the top of the fourth, but failed after Trujillo induced a fly short of left field.

In the bottom of five, Emmanual Forcier landed a single, followed by Derrian Wilsom reaching on a fielder's choice. Logan Domenico then pulled through for Oral Roberts, doubling in both, to advance the Golden Eagles' lead 3-0.

The Cougars cut ORU's lead by one, after the team hit three singles that resulted in a score. The rally didn't last long, due to bad base running that turned a routine fly into a double play.

ORU's momentum pushed on into the bottom of six. With bases loaded, Forcier drew a walk, making it a 4-1 game. Things weren't looking so good for the Cougars after Dean Wilson scored on an error, escalating ORU's lead to 5-1.

In the top of the seventh, the Golden Eagles found themselves in a jam, but managed to escape holding on to its four-point lead.

After three quick outs at the top of eight, Oral Roberts heated up its bats. Rolando Martinez did right by his team, ripping a leadoff double to get the energy flowing. Wilson then stepped up to get his first hit of the season, driving in Martinez. At this point, the Golden Eagles were dominating 6-1.

The Cougars attempted a one-out rally at the top of nine, after knocking in a run. ORU quickly shut down SIUE's efforts, getting its last two outs and winning 6-2.

Game 2

In the home half of the first, Logan Domenico reached on a drop third strike. He was soon driven in on a single up the middle by Matt Brandy.

Anthony Sequeira followed Brandy with a double over the centerfielder's head, giving ORU a 2-0 lead.

ORU escalated its lead to 3-0 in the third, after Chase Stafford scored on an error. The Golden Eagles stayed on a roll, taking a 6-0 lead by the end of three.

Kurt Giller came out hot in the top of four, striking out two Cougars. ORU's bats stayed on in the bottom of the inning, tallying three more runs.

The Cougars trailed 9-0 going into the fifth inning.

Oral Roberts didn't slow down, as they led 10-0 heading into the sixth.

The Cougars finally put together a game plan in the top of the eighth, scoring four runs on four hits. SIUE didn't stop there; they plated two more runs, cutting ORU's lead 12-6.

Despite the Cougars comeback attempt, ORU held on to win 12-7.

Up Next

ORU returns to action Saturday, to play the final game in its three-game series against SIUE. Game time is scheduled for two p.m.