Baseball 3/21/2009 12:00:00 AM

Golden Eagles Drop 10-6 Decision at No. 4 Cal State Fullerton

FULLERTON, Calif. – The Oral Roberts University baseball team scored five runs in the final two innings but fell to No. 4 Cal State Fullerton by a score of 10-6 on Friday night at Goodwin Field. The Golden Eagles dropped to 7-4 overall, while the Titans improved to 15-3 on the season.

Colby Price (Brenham, Texas) and Johnny Roberts (Pryor, Okla.) led ORU offensively as both went 2-for-4 with two RBI.

The Golden Eagles struck first in the top of the first inning. Tyler Garewal (Bakersfield, Calif.) drew a one-out walk, and advanced to second after a ground out. With two outs, Seth Furmanek (Gilbert, Ariz.) drove in his 12th RBI of the season with a single up the middle.

For the second straight game, the Titans plated four runs in the home half of the first. Gary Brown reached first after being plunked to lead off the game. Christian Colon followed with a double on a hit-and-run to score Brown and knot the game at 1-1.

Josh Fellhauer roped a line drive to center field as Colon advanced to third. A wild pitch by Golden Eagle starter Jameson Dunn allowed Fellhauer to move to second and a passed ball scored Colon. Three consecutive walks scored another Titan before Mark Serrano came on in relief and only allowed one more run on an infield hit to minimize the damage.

The Titans would score one run in each of the next four innings to extend the lead to 8-1. Khris Davis led off the bottom of the third with his seventh home run of the season to left center. In the following frame, two errors would contribute to another run scored.

Serrano pitched 6.2 innings in relief, scattering seven hits while allowing four earned runs and striking out nine batters, which tied a career high.

The Golden Eagles put four runs on the board in the top of the eighth after the first two batters were retired. Furmanek drew a walk and Michael Notaro (Westlake Village, Calif.) followed with a single up the middle as pinch-runner Nikko Wong (Cedar Grove, N.J.) advanced to third.

Roberts smacked his second hit of the game through the right side to score Wong and Notaro and bring the game to 10-3. After a pitching change, Price belted a double off of the center field wall to plate two more runs and cut the margin to five runs.

Robert Barbosa (Dallas, Texas) led off the top of the ninth by crushing the ball over the left center field wall for his first career homer, but closer Michael Morrison struck out the side to end the rally.

Cal State Fullerton's Kevin Rath (1-0) picked up the win after giving up four hits and four runs in 4.2 innings with a career-high nine strikeouts.

Dunn (1-2) suffered the loss after only going 0.1 innings and allowing four runs with one strikeout.

Junior Spencer Roberts (Littleton, Colo.) also logged an inning of work, striking out the side in the bottom of the eighth.

The Golden Eagles wrap up the series against the Titans tomorrow at 3 p.m. CT at Goodwin Field.

- ORU -

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Players Mentioned

#43 Robert Barbosa: OF; 5' 10"; Junior

#31 Michael Notaro: INF; 6' 3"; Senior

#6 Colby Price: INF; 5' 10"; Junior

#32 Spencer Roberts: RHP; 6' 3"; Junior

#8 Mark Serrano: RHP; 6' 1"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#43 Robert Barbosa
: 5' 10"; Junior
: OF

#31 Michael Notaro
: 6' 3"; Senior
: INF

#6 Colby Price
: 5' 10"; Junior
: INF

#32 Spencer Roberts
: 6' 3"; Junior
: RHP

#8 Mark Serrano
: 6' 1"; Senior
: RHP