TULSA-Tyler
Garewal smashed a pair of home runs to lead Oral Roberts to a
9-7 win over North Dakota and a three-game series sweep, Sunday at
J.L. Johnson Stadium.
Garewal
finished 4-for-6 with four RBI and two runs scored. The win is
ORU's fifth straight and helps the Golden Eagles (10-10) reach the
.500 mark for the first time this season.
North Dakota
(1-12) proved to be a pesky opponent in the final game of the
weekend, jumping out to a 1-0 lead on a solo run homer by Jake
Magner in the top of the first.
Garewal
answered with a lead-off home run in the bottom of the first and Jared
Schlehuber drove in a run with a bases loaded walk for a 2-1
ORU lead. But North Dakota regained the lead in the third.
Consecutive run-scoring hits by Magner and Josh Ray, and a
sacrifice fly by Kris Kwak gave the Fighting Sioux a 4-1 lead. A
fourth run came home on a wild pitch as North Dakota grabbed a 5-2
advantage.
The Golden
Eagles responded in the bottom of the inning. Tyler Saladino
followed Nick Baligod's lead-off
double with a double of his own to make it a 5-3 game. Robert
Barbosa singled home Saladino two batters later and Brett Sowers
eventually knocked in Barbosa with the first of his two doubles,
tying the game at 5-5.
The game
remained tied until ORU scored three in the seventh. Garewal
blasted a two-run homer for a 7-5 lead. Chris Elder followed
the home run with a single and came around to score on a double by
Baligod as the Golden Eagles extended their lead to 8-5.
ORU added a
run in the eighth on an RBI single by Garewal, taking a 9-5 lead.
North Dakota scored a pair on a two-out, two-run homer by Magner in
the ninth but got no closer.
Reliever Dan
Martony (1-0) earned the victory for ORU. The right-hander
turned in 4.0 solid innings in relief of Furmanek, allowing just
four hits and walk for his first victory of the season.
The Golden
Eagles banged out 16 hits and drew 10 walks from four North Dakota
pitchers, but ORUalso left 16 runners on base. Sowers joined
Garewal with four hits while Baligod and Barbosa collected two
each.
ORU visits
No. 8 Texas, 6:05 p.m., Tuesday in Austin.
--ORU--
