ORU Athletics
OMAHA, Neb. – The Oral Roberts baseball team saw their season come to a close on Saturday night in Omaha. Despite winning the 2 p.m. game by a score of 15-5, the Golden Eagles fell in a winner-take-all nightcap, 11-6.
In game one, the Bison struck first with a three-run first inning and built an early 3-0 lead, which they carried in to the fourth inning.
ORU clawed back within a run in the fourth inning after pushing two runs across in the frame. Blake Hall got the Golden Eagles on the board with a single to left field before Alec Jones plated a run on a fielder’s choice.
Hall gave the Golden Eagles the lead in the sixth inning with a two-run to left field, bringing Denny around to score. After a Ryan Cash RBI triple. Caleb Denny used a long ball of his own to push the ORU lead to four. Adam Oviedo roped an RBI single back through the middle before Anthony Martinez launched a three-run home run to give the Golden Eagles an 11-3 lead.
In the bottom half of the seventh inning, NDSU pushed across a pair of runs before AJ Archambo escaped the inning.
The Golden Eagles added four insurance runs in the ninth inning to push their lead to 10. The score would remain at 15-5 as Cade Denton worked a scoreless bottom half to close out the ballgame.
In the winner-take-all game two, the Bison jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Golden Eagles got on the board in the second. Oviedo got the ORU offense going with a double to left field, scoring Wiley.
NDSU and ORU continued to trade runs throughout the third and fourth innings and ORU managed to trim the Bison lead to one. A pair of home runs from Jake McMurray and Martinez energized the Golden Eagle dugout and started to swing the momentum.
The Bison responded with a three-run fifth inning and a three-run sixth to expand their lead to seven and take complete control of the ballgame.
ORU tried to mount a comeback, pushing three runs across in the sixth inning but it proved to be too little, too late. McMurray and Denny plated all three runs across with a pair of singles up the middle.
In the seventh inning, the Bison added an insurance run to push their lead back to five.
Game One Turning Point
In addition to a stellar day at the plate that included a three-run home run, Anthony Martinez made several highlight worthy plays with his glove.
Game Two Turning Point
Six runs by the Bison scored in the fifth and sixth innings proved to be too much for the Golden Eagles to overcome.
Inside The Game One Box Score
- Ryan Cash recorded his third four-hit game of the season.
- The seven-run seventh inning was the first seven-run frame for the Golden Eagles since May 9.
- ORU launched three home runs in the seventh inning, the second time they’ve done so this season.
- Archambo set a new season-high with five strikeouts, coming just one short of his career-best.
- Martinez tied his career high with four runs batted in.
- Hall had a three hit, three RBI game for the Golden Eagles.
Inside The Game Two Box Score
- Bradan Pierce worked a career best 3.1 innings of relief out of the bullpen, striking out three.
- McMurray, Cash, and Denny all tallied multi-hit games in the two through four spots in the lineup.
- After the game, Martinez, Cash, Hall, Matt Gaskins, and Adam Scoggins were named to the All-Tournament team.
- With the loss, the Golden Eagles season comes to a close. ORU finishes with a final record of 31-23.