BROOKINGS,
S.D. -- South Dakota State jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the
first inning and held off the Golden Eagles rally as Oral Roberts
University lost to the Jackrabbits, 12-8, in Summit League action
on Sunday at Erv Huether Field.
The Golden
Eagles fell to 34-12 on the year and 16-4 in The Summit League
while South Dakota State improved to 20-22 overall and 7-6 in
league play.
Ben
Petralli went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored,
while Brian Van
Kirk went 4-for-5 with three doubles and three RBI to pace the
ORU offense.
After ORU
went down in order in their first at-bat, South Dakota State was
able to get six runs off starter Kelly
Minissale (1-3) in the home side of the first.
The Golden
Eagles sliced the home team's lead in half with a three-run third
inning. Petralli had a run-scoring single through the right side
followed by a two-run double to the gap in left center by Van
Kirk.
SDSU pushed
across three runs in the fourth and two runs in the fifth off the
ORU bullpen to build an 11-3 advantage.
However, ORU
was able to chip into the Jackrabbits' lead with three runs in the
sixth and one run each in the seventh and eighth. In the sixth
frame, Petralli and Van Kirk led off with consecutive doubles with
Van Kirk's two-base hit scoring Petralli. The Golden Eagles
continued to place pressure on SDSU's starter Isaac Johnson (1-3)
in the inning, but Johnson only allowed two sacrifice flies to David
Genao and Justin
Mitchell.
Genao plated
Van Kirk – who doubled – on a single to center field in
the seventh, trimming SDSU's lead to 11-7.
The Golden
Eagles got within three in the top of the eighth when Juan
Martinez had a lead-off solo home run over the fence in right
center.
ORU lost
despite out-hitting the Jackrabbits but were plagued with four
errors. Eight of the nine starters recorded a hit for the Golden
Eagles.
Minissale
lasted just one inning, allowing six runs – two earned –
while walking three and striking out two in the losing effort.
Andre
Lamontagne (2.2 innings), Jameson
Dunn (0.1 innings) and Mark
Serrano (4.0 innings) all saw action in relief for the Golden
Eagles.
ORU returns
to action with a mid-week game against Big 12 Conference foe Kansas
on Wednesday in Lawrence, Kan. at 6 p.m.
--ORU--
