FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.�€"Kelly Minissale's two-out
RBI single in the top of the 11th inning helped propel
Oral Roberts University to a 4-3 victory over No. 21 Arkansas in
the opening round of the Fayetteville Regional, Friday at Baum
Stadium.
ORU (39-14) next faces
No. 20 Oklahoma State, 7 p.m., Saturday in the double-elimination
tournament. The Cowboys defeated Princeton, 4-1, on Friday
afternoon. The winner advances to Sunday's championship round.
Andy Bouchie started the
winning rally by reaching on a one-out error by Arkansas second
baseman James Ewing. Bouchie moved to second n a ground out by
Chad Rothford
and scored when Minissale bounced Charley Boyce's 1-2 pitch up the
middle for a single.
Arkansas (38-20) and
ORU battled back-and-forth all night. The Golden Eagles never
trailed but also never could gain much breathing room against the
Razorbacks.
The Golden Eagles
started the game off on the right foot, getting on the board in the
first inning against SEC Pitcher of the year Nick Schmidt. Tim Torres doubled
with one out and came around to score on a two-out double by
Rothford for a 1-0 lead.
Arkansas tied the score
in the bottom of the third on an RBI single James Ewing.
ORU regained the lead
in the top of the fifth, but missed out on an opportunity for a
bigger inning. Brendan
Duffy led off with a double and moved to third on a single
by Torres. Jake
Kahaulelio hit an infield single to load the bases, but
Bouchie grounded into a double play, though Duffy did score the
go-ahead run.
But the lead was
short-lived as Danny Hamblin tied it at 2-2 in the bottom of the
inning with a two-out solo home run.
Once again, ORU came
back to take the lead. Minissale led off the sixth with a single
and scored on a one-out triple by Brian Aguailar. But once
more, Arkansas answered and tied it up in the seventh, though the
damage could have been worse.
The Razorbacks loaded
the bases with none out off reliever Chance Chapman, who came in
for starting pitcher Nick Jones to start the
sixth. Sean
Jarrett (7-1)
relieved and struck out Jake Dugger for the first out. Danny Hum
followed with a sacrifice fly, tying the game at 3-3, but James
Ewing was tagged out while trying to advance to third by a diving
Carter
McQuigg to end the inning and keep the game tied.
Jarrett controlled the
Razorbacks from that point forward. The senior right-hander tossed
5.0 shutout innings of relief, allowing just two hits and striking
out three without a walk. He retired the Razorbacks on three
grounders in the bottom of the 11th to end the game.
ORU won despite tying a
season high with 15 runners left on base. The Golden Eagles
collected 13 hits, including five doubles and a triple. Duffy,
Torres, Minissale and Aguailar each had two hit apiece.
Schmidt was solid for
the Razorbacks, allowing three runs on 10 hits in 8.0 innings,
striking out 10 and walking two.
Jones battled during
his five inning stint, allowing two runs on six hits with two walks
and five strikeouts.
--ORU--
