ORU Survives Late Scare in Win over Oakland

The Golden Eagles nearly gave away a five-run lead in the ninth inning.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:23 pm

By: News On 6

ORU Survives Late Scare in Win over Oakland

Originally Published: May 6, 2011 8:28 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Oral Roberts baseball team suffered a ninth-inning scare, but escaped with a 7-5 victory over Oakland University Friday.

The Golden Eagles (23-17, 12-5) carried a five-run lead into the ninth, but Oakland responded with its best inning of the night. D.J. Jarrad delivered a two-run home run to cut the lead to 7-4, and Aaron Wick drove home another run with a double to bring the Golden Grizzlies (12-25, 5-12) within two.

With Wick still aboard, the next batter drew a walk to put the game-tying run on base with two outs. ORU elected to bring Joe Spring to the mound to try to retire the final batter, and he responded by striking out Nolan Jacoby to end the game.

The stressful finish nearly ruined an excellent start by Drew Bowen, who held Oakland to just one run on four hits in 6.1 innings of work. He came away with a win, while Spring was credited with his first save of the year despite only facing one batter.

Nick Baligod was the ORU star on offense. Batting in the lead-off spot, he finished 3-for-5 with two home runs and three RBIs. Four other Golden Eagles provided one RBI each, and Brandon King’s RBI double late in the game turned out to provide the game-winning run.

Oral Roberts now has won three games in a row and remains entrenched as the No. 2 team in the Summit League. It will continue its series with Oakland in a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 11 a.m.