ORU Sweeps Western Illinois in Four-Game Series

Originally Published: Apr 25, 2010 5:17 PM CDT

Stephany Speck
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

TULSA, Oklahoma -- The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles completed a four-game series Sunday with a 14-4 win over the Western Illinois Leathernecks.

The sweep started with an 11-7 Friday win, followed with back-to-back Saturday wins. The double-headers ended in 13-3 and 9-3 victories for the Golden Eagles. Sunday’s 14-4 loss sealed the Leathernecks road-game woes, sending them back to Western Illinois empty-handed.

More on Oklahoma Sports:
Game One Recap
Games Two/Three Recap

A fifth-inning grand slam by Seth Furmanek propelled ORU (22-17) to the win, along with a two-run homer by Tyler Saladino in the final inning which ended the game on a run-rule.

The home run was Saladino’s third of the series. He also racked up 11 RBI for the Golden Eagles.

Western Illinois (9-28) put up two quick runs to start the game, but ORU posted three runs in the bottom of the third. The Leathernecks again regained the lead in the fifth, scoring twice, but the Golden Eagles’ explosive fifth inning earned them the series sweep.

ORU took the 12-4 lead after sending 13 batters to the plate, posting nine times in the bottom of the fifth.

Travis Pedersen (0-2) finished with the loss for Western Illinois, having allowed four runs in four innings pitched.

Jeff Burleson (5-2) earned the win after allowing four runs over 7.1 innings. He struck out nine batters, a season high for the senior.

Oral Roberts returns to the diamond Friday for another four-game series. The Golden Eagles will travel to Indiana to face IPFW.