TULSA -– Oral Roberts University continued to be dominant at
home with a 7-2 win over Oakland in Summit League action, Friday
night at J.L. Johnson Stadium.
Oakland (14-23, 6-8 Summit League) claimed the early lead with a
run in the second inning off Carlos
Luna. With one out, Scott Sexton singled then Luna (11-0)
walked three consecutive batters to force in a run as OU led 1-0
early.
However, the Golden Eagles (35-12, 17-4 Summit League) rallied by
posting three two-out runs in the home side of the third. After
consecutive ORU groundouts, Brendan
Duffy started things by reaching base on a walk followed by Kelly
Minissale reaching base after getting hit by a Matt Trausch
pitch.
Ben Petralli then brought the two home on a
double off the wall in right field. Brian Van
Kirk proceeded to plate Petralli on a hard-hit single through
the left side of the infield as ORU grabbed a 3-1 advantage.
ORU made it 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth when Juan
Martinez hit a RBI singled up the middle, scoring Pat
Murray.
Oakland was able to cut into the Golden Eagles lead in the sixth
inning. Rob Merkle hit a run-scoring single to center field to
score Dan Ryan, trimming ORU's lead to 4-2.
The Golden Eagles came right back in their next at-bat and got back
the run that Oakland scored. After Ryan
Groth singled,
Adam Younger advanced Groth to second by
laying down a sacrifice bunt. Martinez then tallied a single up the
middle to score Groth.
ORU pushed across two more runs in the bottom of the eighth for
some insurance as the Golden Eagles led 7-2.
Luna lasted eight innings, allowing two runs while scattering six
hits. The right-hander struck out seven batters.
Oakland's Matt Trausch (3-6) last six innings, giving up five runs
on 10 hits in a losing effort.
Van Kirk went 3-for-5 with an RBI while Petralli and Martinez each
collected two RBI to pace the Golden Eagles offense.
ORU improved to 20-1 at home this season with the win and have now
won nine straight games over the Golden Grizzlies
The two teams continue their four-game series tomorrow with a twin
bill starting at 2 p.m. Live stats, video and audio will be
available on www.ORUGoldenEagles.com.
--ORU--
