IRVINE, Calif.�€"Oral Roberts' late rally, which
included a pinch-hit grand slam in the top of the ninth inning by
Carter
McQuigg, fell just short in a 9-8 loss to UC-Irvine,
Friday at Anteater Ballpark.
Trailing 9-4 entering
the top of the ninth, the Golden Eagles (10-7) loaded the bases on
singles by Andy
Bouchie and Tim Torres and a two-out
walk to Chad
Rothford. McQuigg pinch-hit for third baseman Ben Baker and blasted
a 2-1 pitch off reliever Kyle Necke over the left-field wall to
pull ORU within 9-8.
All-American closer
Blair Erickson relieved Necke and struck out Brendan Duffy, who reached
first on a third-strike wild pitch. But Erickson rebounded and
struck out Kelly
Minissale to end the game.
UC-Irvine won the game
mostly due to three big scoring innings, one which proved to be
pivotal.
The Anteaters broke a
scoreless tie in the third. The first two batters reached on
singles, but ORU starter Sean Jarrett retired the
next two batters and appeared to be on the verge of getting out of
the inning. Cody Cipriano doubled in two runs for a 2-0 lead, and
Jamie Martinez followed with an RBI single to stake UCI to a 3-0
lead.
ORU tied the game with
three runs in the top of the fourth. Torres put the Golden Eagles
on the board with an RBI double, and Travis DeBondt followed two
batters later with a two-run home run, tying the game at 3-3.
The game remained tied
until the Anteaters erupted in the sixth. UCI bated around in the
inning, scoring four runs on four hits, two errors and a hit
batter.
The Golden Eagles got
to within 7-4 when DeBondt tripled with one out and scored on a
ground out by Rothford in the seventh.
The Anteaters scored
what proved to be the winning runs in the bottom of the eighth.
Cipriano laced an RBI single to make it 8-4, and reliever Ronnie Ball uncorked
a wild pitch with runners on second and third for a 9-4 UCI
lead.
Chris Ashman (3-1) suffered
the loss, allowing five runs on five hits in three innings in
relief of Jarrett. Gary Nakashima (2-0) earned the win for the
Anteaters, and Erickson picked up his eighth save.
Torres and DeBondt each
had two hits to pace ORU.
The Golden Eagles look
to avoid the sweep when the two teams meet in the finale at 3 p.m.,
Saturday.
--ORU--
