ORU Rides Zufall's Arm To Victory Against Saint Louis

Tim Zufall pitched his longest outing in an Oral Roberts uniform on Sunday, shutting down Saint Louis in the series finale 5-0. Zufall threw seven shutout innings and struck out a batter in the victory.

With the win, the Golden Eagles improve to 1-2 after their first series, giving first-year coach Ryan Folmar the first win of his head coaching career.

The bullpen didn't miss a beat on Sunday as Nathan Garza and Brad Fisher came in to the game in the eighth and ninth innings, holding the Billikens hitless.

Unlike the first two games of the series, the Golden Eagles put the bat on the ball at the right times. In the previous two matchups in the series, the ORU offense had stranded 23 runners on base.

The scoring kicked off in the first inning with two runs on a pair of hits. Logan Domenico led the game off with a walk, moving into scoring position on a groundout by Kevin Cho. Jose Trevino then stepped in, ripping a double down the left field line, scoring Domenico from second.

Dating back to last season, Trevino has reached base in 32 straight games.

Trevino wasn't standing on second base long as Matt Brandy singled to center to score Trevino, giving the Golden Eagles an early 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, senior Chris Williams took the first pitch of his at bat over the left field wall for his first home run of the season, extending the Golden Eagle lead to 3-0.

While the defense was a struggled for the Golden Eagles in the first two games of the weekend, the error bug bit the Billikens in the bottom of the sixth. With Nate Goro standing on second after a lead-off single and a stolen base, he move over to third on a bobbled ball off the bat of Brandon Healy.

The Golden Eagles then attempted a squeeze play that easily scored Goro and moved Healy to second, but the Billiken pitcher misplayed his second straight fielding attempt, allowing Graham McIntyre to reach base.

Two innings later, the Golden Eagles added their final run as Goro crossed the plate for the second time of the afternoon. After drawing a walk to lead the inning off, Goro scored from second base on a Domenico single up the middle.

Six of the nine Golden Eagle starters at the plate recorded hits, with Domenico, Trevino, Brandy, Williams and McIntyre picking up the five runs batted in.

Earning the loss on the mound for the Billikens was Nick Bates. Saint Louis used five pitchers in the game.

Up next for the Golden Eagles (1-2) is a matchup with a long- time foe and powerhouse Wichita State. The Shockers dropped all three of their season opening series to Pittsburgh over the weekend.