TULSA--Chris
Ashman tossed a 5-hit shutout in game one and Nick
Jones struck out12 in game two as Oral Roberts University swept a Mid-Continent Conference
doubleheader from Western Illinois on Saturday at J.L. Johnson
Stadium. The Golden Eagles won the opener 5-0 and took the nightcap
7-1.
Facing Mid-Con ERA
leader Quinn Leath (5-2), the Golden Eagles (24-13, 8-1 Mid-Con)
broke through in the third inning. Brendan Duffy led off with
a single and moved to third on a double by Tim Torres. A sacrifice fly
by Jake
Kahaulelio scored Duffy and put ORU ahead 1-0. Chad Rothford popped
out to right field and Leath intentionally walked Andy Bouchie to set up a
lefty-lefty match-up with Travis DeBondt. DeBondt
spoiled the plan, however, when he lined Leath's 2-2 pitch off the
wall in right, scoring Torres and Bouchie for a 3-0 lead.
The Golden Eagles added to their lead in the
fourth. Duffy's two-out single chased Leath from the game and
Torres greeted reliever Jon Paul Shore with a two-run home run to left-center,
putting ORU ahead 5-0.
While ORU's offense was
roughing up Leath, Ashman (7-1) was in complete control on the
mound for the Golden Eagles. The junior right-hander allowed just
one hit over the first four innings, retiring 12 straight batters
during one stretch.
Western (18-28, 7-7)
attempted a rally in the top of the ninth, as Steve Knapp and Kelly
Flannery led off with singles. But Ashman snuffed out the rally
effort by striking out Travis Check and inducing a game-ending
double play grounder from Tyler Johnson to preserve the win and the
shutout.
In tossing his first
career shutout Ashman allowed just five singles while walking one
and striking out six batters.
Game two started out as
a pitcher's duel between Jones and Western's Ryan Schmidgall but
turned into a route.
The Leathernecks scored
first, getting their only run on an RBI single by by Matt Newquist
in the second.
After failing to score
in the first three innings, Bouchie put ORU on top for good with a
two-run homer to deep left-center field for a 2-1 lead.
The Golden Eagles added
to their advantage with two more runs in the fifth. Consecutive RBI
doubles by Duffy and Torres gave the Golden Eagles a 4-1 lead and
chased Schmidgall from the game.
ORU put the game away
with a three-run sixth. Bouchie led off with a walk, Kelly Minissale reached on
a bunt single, and Ben Baker was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Catcher Brian
Aguailar followed with a three-run double down the left
field line and ORU had a 7-1 lead.
Jones fell one
strikeout shy of tying his career high, set last season at Oakland.
The complete game was his third of the season. Jones scattered 10
hits and didn't walk a batter.
Schmidgall (2-3)
suffered the loss after allowing four runs on five hits in 4.1
innings.
ORU totaled 14 hits in
the doubleheader. Duffy and Torres had three hits apiece for the
afternoon, while DeBondt had two hits in the opener and Minissale
and Aguailar each had two hits in the nightcap.
The Golden Eagles
return to action when they host No. 11 Arkansas, 7 p.m., Tuesday.
The game will be televised regionally in Oklahoma and throughout
the southeastern United States on Cox Sports Television.
--ORU--
