From ORU Sports Info.
Tim McCaughan, Media Relations Assistant
TULSA, Okla. – Three defensive lapses’ proved costly as the Oral Roberts baseball team dropped a semifinal contest to red-hot No. 3 seed IPFW Thursday night at J.L. Johnson Stadium, 6-5. The loss marked only the third ever defeat in the Summit League Tournament in program history.
Oral Roberts rallied from a 4-3 deficit to eventually take a 5-4 lead over the Mastodons. IPFW turned it on in the eighth to score the game-tying and go-ahead runs before holding on to advance to the Championship game.
The Golden Eagles looked to get out of the eighth tied at five, but an error at shortstop allowed the go-ahead run to score from third.
Fort Wayne, in the midst of a 12-game win streak, started the game with a bang as Brandon Soat sent a ball over the left field wall in the Dons’ first plate appearance. IPFW would add another run in the inning to take a 2-0 lead. ORU would answer though in the third with two runs of their own, first a solo home run from Nick Rotola and another on an RBI double from Noah Cummings to score Nick Roark from first.
The teams traded runs in the next innings before ORU took a 5-4 lead in the sixth after Michael Hungate’s two-run homer to left.
Nick Wood went four and a third innings, giving up three earned runs and striking out two. Freshman Trevor McCutchin went three innings and allowed only one earned run on three hits.
Notables
- ORU falls to 4-3 the year to the Mastodons.
- The loss drops Oral Roberts to 53-3 all-time in The Summit League Tournament.
- Nick Roark and Rolando Martinez led the Golden Eagles with a pair of hits each.
- Nick Rotola and Michael Hungate both went for home runs. Rotola’s was his second in as many games while Hungate’s two-run blast was his third of the year.
- ORU falls to 20-4 at J.L. Johnson Stadium. The loss ends ORU’s 13-game win streak at home.
- IPFW continues its hot streak, now with a 12-game winning streak after the win.
- The loss was charged to freshman Trevor McCutchin. He falls to 3-3 on the season.
- Jordan Martin earned the victory for the Dons’ in relief, while Jake Weber collected his 13th save.
Up Next
The Golden Eagles will face South Dakota State in an elimination contest Friday night at J.L. Johnson Stadium. Winner of the game will take on IPFW Saturday in the Championship game at 1 p.m.