TULSA –- Oral Roberts University pounded out eight home runs
while Michael
Jarman went the distance for a complete game as the Golden
Eagles beat Western Illinois, 19-2, in Summit League action on
Friday night at J.L. Johnson Stadium.
With the win, ORU improved to 26-8 overall and 8-1 in league action
while WIU fell to 10-20 overall and 4-5 in The Summit League. The
Golden Eagles extended their home winning streak to 10 and improved
to 16-1 on home games.
Ben
Petralli, Johnny
Roberts and David
Genao punched in three runs each while Brian Van
Kirk was a triple away from the cycle with a 3-for-4
performance.
Both teams were held scoreless in the first two innings, but the
Golden Eagles was able to get to Western Illinois' starter Mark
DiBernardo (2-5) in the bottom of the third by slugging three home
runs in the frame. Brendan
Duffy started the scoring with a home run over the right center
field fence. Kelly
Minissale followed with a single down the left field line then
Petralli drove a DiBernardo pitch over deep center for his fourth
home run of the year. Van Kirk made it 4-0 with his team-leading
ninth home run of the season.
ORU used the long ball again in the fourth when Genao led off with
a solo shot over the fence in right center as ORU increased their
advantage to 5-0.
The Golden Eagles chased DiBernardo out of the game in the fifth
while posting five runs on the board for a 10-0 lead. Michael
Notaro collected an RBI double then was plated on a RBI single
by Genao. Juan
Martinez followed Genao's single with a two-run home run over
the right center wall. The home run was Martinez's third of the
season. Duffy brought around Adam
Younger for the Golden Eagles fifth run of the frame.
WIU's Tyler Metcalf, Cole Waddell and Lorenzo Gallaga led off the
sixth inning for the Leathernecks with consecutive singles off
Jarman (7-1) to put Western Illinois on the scoreboard. WIU
recorded their second run of the game when Jarman forced Brett
Pendall to ground into a double play, scoring Waddell.
ORU erased Western Illinois' two-run effort in their next at-bat by
posting two runs for a 12-2 lead.
The home team plated seven more runs in the bottom of the eighth
by hitting back-to-back-to-back home runs. Petralli led off the
inning with a single then Johnny
Roberts pitch-hit for Van Kirk and hit a two-run home run. Ryan
Groth and Kyle
Price followed Roberts long ball with a home run of their own
for a 16-2 lead. ORU scored three more runs in the inning on RBIs
by Justin
Mitchell, Petralli and Roberts.
The complete game by Jarman was ORU's second in as many games and
the left-hander set a new season-high with nine strikouts. Jarman
scattered six hits and only walked two.
In all, 11 different Golden Eagles recorded a hit while seven of
them had multi-hit performances.
With a 2-for-5 performance, Petralli extended his season-long
hitting streak to 12 games.
ORU and Western Illinois continue their series with a twin bill
tomorrow starting at 2 p.m.
--ORU--
