FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.�€"Chad Rothford's two-strike,
two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted Oral
Roberts University to a 5-4 win over top seed and
20th-ranked Oklahoma State and put the Golden Eagles
within one victory of an NCAA Regional championship, Saturday at
Baum Stadium.
ORU (40-14) advances to
meet the winner of Sunday's OSU-Arkansas elimination game, tomorrow
at 7 p.m. The winner of the 2 p.m. OSU-Arkansas game will have to
beat the Golden Eagles twice to deny ORU the championship.
With ORU trailing 4-3
in the bottom of the eighth, OSU starter Brae Wright walked
lead-off batter Jake
Kahaulelio. After Andy Bouchie sacrificed
Kahaulelo to second, Wright walked Tim Torres.
Oilver Odle relieved
Wright to face Rothford, who hooked a 2-2 breaking ball down the
right field line, scoring Kahaulelio and Torres to put ORU on
top.
Rothford, the
Mid-Continent Conference co-Player and co-Newcomer of the Year,
enjoyed one of the best nights of the season, driving in all five
ORU runs with a home run and a pair of doubles. He finished 3-for-4
with five RBI.
Heading into the top of
the ninth with a 5-4 lead, ORU called upon reliever Sean Jarrett to close the
door. The senior allowed only a two-out infield single in earning
his seventh save.
Though they were
victorious in the end, the game started on a dubious note for
ORU.
Oklahoma State (40-19)
struck first when the game's lead-off batter Casey Brown homered
for a 1-0 lead. Ty Wright followed Brown's home run with a single,
but Chris
Ashman struck out the next three batters to end the
inning.
Adam Carr blasted a
one-out solo home run in the second to give the Cowboys a 2-0
lead.
Oklahoma State starting
pitcher Brae Wright held the Golden Eagles in check early on,
facing just one batter over the minimum through the first four
innings. But ORU finally broke through in the bottom of the
fifth.
Torres led off the
inning with a single and Rothford �€" batting
right-handed against the lefty throwing Wright �€"
blasted a 1-2 pitch over the wall in left-center field for his
11th home run of the season, tying the game at 2-2. The
homer was just Rothford's second against a left-hander this
season.
But OSU quickly
responded. Keanon Simon tripled leading off the sixth when ORU
center fielder Kelly
Minissale lost a routine fly ball in the lights. Carr
followed with a single for a 3-2 Cowboys lead.
Rothford played the
hero again for ORU in the sixth. Andy Bouchie tripled high
off the wall in left-center with one out and, after Torres struck
out, Rothford lined another 1-2 pitch from Wright up the gap in
left-center, scoring Bouchie and tying the game at 3-3.
Ashman, however,
couldn't keep it tied as he was victimized again by the longball
once more when Ty Wright led off the top of the seventh with a solo
homer, making it 4-3.
Erik Crichton (4-0)
relieved Ashman to start the eighth and tossed one shutout inning
to get the win.
Despite allowing four
home runs, Ashman was solid for the Golden Eagles in his seven
innings of work. The junior right-hander struck out a career-high
eight batters and walked just one.
Brae Wright (8-4)
allowed all five runs on seven hits in 7.2 innings of work for the
Cowboys.
--ORU--
