TULSA�€"Travis DeBondt knocked in the winning run in
the bottom of the ninth in game one and Nick Jones tossed six solid
innings in game two as Oral Roberts University swept a
Mid-Continent Conference doubleheader from Oakland, Saturday at
J.L. Johnson Stadium. ORU won the opener 5-4 and took the nightcap
5-2.
The opening victory
gave the Golden Eagles (33-14, 15-2 Mid-Con) their eighth
consecutive Mid-Con regular-season crown and clinched the number
one seed in next weekend's conference tournament.
In game one, the Golden
Eagles twice had to rally in the late innings.
With the score tied 3-3
in the bottom of the eighth Chad Rothford laced an RBI double to
left-centerfield, scoring Jake Kahaulelio for a 4-3 lead.
But the Golden
Grizzlies (19-34, 13-9) tied it in the top of the ninth against
Sean Jarrett (5-1). Chad Winkler reached leading off when Jarrett
overthrew first on a slow roller, sending Winkler to second.
Winkler advanced to
third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Andy Shepherd's two-out
single up the middle, knotting the game at 4-4.
Minissale led off the
bottom of the ninth with a double and moved to third on a sac bunt
by Pat Warfle. After an intentional walk to pinch hitter Brian
Aguailar, Debondt bounced a single past first baseman Ryan Heath to
knock in the winning run.
Oakland jumped out in
front in the first inning. An RBI double by Bryan Marulli put the
Golden Grizzlies up 1-0.
Andy Bouchie tied the
game with a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the second, but
the Grizzlies regained the elad on Ryan Heath's RBI single in the
top of third, which gave Oakland a 2-1 advantage.
An RBI single by Kyle
Crepeau in the fifth gave Oakland a 3-1 lead, but ORU came back in
the bottom of the inning and tied the game at 3-3 on a two-run
single by Carter McQuigg.
Eric Crichton relieved
ORU starter Taylor McIntyre to start the sixth, and Crichton kept
Oakland off the scoreboard by tossing three innings of one-hit
relief.
Oakland reliever Ben
Darga (2-1) suffered the loss, allowing two runs on three hits in
1.1 innings of work.
Game two saw yet
another low-scoring affair.
The Golden Grizzlies
took an early lead, scoring an unearned run in the top of the third
when Warfle misplayed Kyle Crepeau's fly ball in left field. Heath
scored from second and Oakland had a 1-0 lead.
But the lead was
short-lived as Bouchie tied the game with a sac fly in the bottom
of the third.
ORU grabbed the lead in
the fourth. Carter McQuigg and Aguailar hit back-to-back doubles to
make it 2-1. An infield single by Warfle moved Aguailar to third,
and he scored when Brendan Duffy grounded out to second, giving the
Golden Eagles a 3-1 lead.
An RBI fielder's choice
by Aguailar in the fifth made it 4-1, but Oakland trimmed the lead
to 4-2 on Andy Brinker's RBI single in the top of the sixth.
The Golden Eagles
scored an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth, when Duffy
scored on a double play groundout by Kahaulelio.
Jarrett earned his
fifth save of the season with a shutout seventh inning. Oakland
starter Dan Stinchcombe (1-2) was saddled with the loss after
allowing four runs on seven hits and six walks in five innings.
Jones (7-4) was solid
for the Golden Eagles, allowing just one earned run in six innings,
striking out nine and walking just one.
The Golden Eagles and
Oakland conclude their four-game series on Sunday with a 1 p.m.
doubleheader. Eight seniors will be honored between games as part
of Senior Day.
--ORU--
