TULSA,
Okla. �€" Erik Crichton (Seal Beach,
Calif.) pitched 6.1 innings of shutout relief and Adam
Younger (Cape Coral, Fla.) had a career-high four hits to
lead Oral Roberts University to a 17-5 victory over Valparaiso on
Friday night, at J.L. Johnson Stadium.
With
the win, ORU has won seven games in a row and improved to 22-14
overall and 5-0 in the Mid-Con. Valparaiso drops to 14-21 and 3-2
league play.
The
Golden Eagles posted runs in six innings and led 11-5 after four
innings.
Crichton (1-4) tied his career-high in innings pitched and in
strikeouts with six. The senior only allowed two Crusader hits and
walked one while facing 22 batters.
Kelly Minissale (Murphy, Texas) hit a two-run home
run off Valparaiso starter Ranko Ivetic as ORU led 3-0 after the
first. Ivetic lasted just 1.0 innings, allowing five Golden Eagle
runs.
After a
flawless first inning, ORU�€™s starter
Chris Ashman (Hemet, Calif.) ran into trouble in
the second allowing Valparaiso to take a 5-2 lead. Ashman was
relieved by Crichton after pitching just 1.2 innings of work.
ORU
knotted the score at 5-5 with two runs in the second. Brian
Van Kirk (Southwest Ranches, Fla.) had a two-out two-run
RBI double to left field.
The
Golden Eagles scored two runs in the third and then tallied four
more in the fourth inning. Brendan Duffy
(Glendale, Ariz.), who now has hit safely in 11 straight games, had
a two-run RBI single in the fourth. Younger and Carter
McQuigg (Miami, Okla.) also produced run-scoring singles
in the four run fourth.
In the
seventh, Younger hit a three-run home run over the left field fence
for his third home run of the season and fourth hit of the game.
Designated hitter Stephen Pearson (Petaluma,
Calif.) and Pat Warfle (Melbourne, Fla.) also had
RBI�€™s for ORU.
ORU
tabbed its last run of the night when David Genao
(Newark, N.J.) scored on a wild pitch by
Valparaiso�€™s Peter Burg.
Eight
different ORU hitters had at least one hit with Duffy, Minisalle,
Van Kirk, Warfle, McQuigg, and Younger having multi-hit games.
Eric Mattison (Granite Bay, Calif.) saw his first
relief effort since Feb. 10, pitching the ninth inning for the
Golden Eagles. The right-hander only allowed one hit and fanned a
batter.
Dallas
Cawiezell led the Crusader attack with a three RBI effort.
Valparaiso�€™s Matt Evans (2-1) was credited with
the loss after allowing four runs in 2.1 innings.
ORU and
Valparaiso will meet tomorrow with a twin bill starting at 2 p.m.
at J.L. Johnson Stadium.
-ORU-
