TULSA-Tyler
Saladino's five hits and five RBI helped lead Oral Roberts to a
doubleheader sweep over Summit League foe Western Illinois, winning
13-3 and 9-3, Saturday at J.L. Johnson Stadium.
Game One -
ORU 13, Western Illinois 3
ORU (21-17
overall, 9-2 Summit) belted four home runs in a run-rule victory
over Western Illinois (9-27, 2-9).
The Golden
Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Tyler Garewal led off
with a walk, moved to second on a single by Joey
Winiecki and scored two batters later on a groundout by Nick
Baligod.
The
Leathernecks momentarily grabbed a 2-1 lead by scoring two runs in
the top of the second before ORU's home run assault began.
ORU blasted
three home runs during a five-run third inning. With Winiecki
aboard, Saladino belted a two-run homer and Seth Furmanek followed
with monstrous solo shot, clearing the batter's eye in dead
centerfield. P.J. Sequeira singled two
batters later and Robert Barbosa clubbed a
two-run home run as ORU grabbed a 6-2 lead.
Saladino
added to ORU's lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth,
making it 7-2. Colby
Price got in on the home run parade with a two-run homer in the
bottom of the fifth as the Golden Eagles surged to a 9-2
advantage.
Western
Illinois finally stopped the bleeding in the sixth when Cole
Waddell's RBI single made it 9-3. But the Golden Eagles scored four
runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 13-3 lead. Western Illinois
went down in order in the top of the seventh as ORU secured the
run-rule victory.
Jameson
Dunn (2-1) went the distance for ORU, allowing three runs on
seven hits while striking out five and walking one. Devin Van
Brooker (3-3) took the loss for Western.
ORU finished
with 14 hits, including four home runs. Barbosa finished 3-for-4
with three runs and two RBI while Saladino had two hits and knocked
in three. Winiecki and Price had two hits each.
Game Two -
ORU 9, Western Illinois 3
Bryce
Smolen tossed a complete game and matched his career high with
10 strikeouts as ORU swept the doubleheader.
Jared Schlehuber gave
ORU a 1-0 lead in the second inning when he singled in Chris
Elder, who led off with a double.
But Western
came back with three runs in the top of the third, thanks in part
to a pair of errors by Smolen (5-2). The Leathernecks smacked five
hits in the inning and Smolen made a pair of errors on plays at
first base as Western went up 3-1.
ORU regained
the lead in the bottom of the inning. Baligod started the inning
with an RBI double to close the gap to 3-2, and the Golden Eagles
went ahead when a two-out throwing error by third baseman Brian
Jordan led to a pair of runs to give ORU a 4-3 lead.
Saladino
struck again in the fourth. With Price on second and Winiecki at
first, Saladino lined a double to right scoring both runners for a
6-3 lead. Chris Elder knocked in
Saladino with a single for a 7-3 lead.
Winiecki
laced an RBI triple in the fifth for an 8-3 ORU lead. An RBI single
Furmanek in the sixth capped the scoring.
Saladino
finished a home run shy of the cycle, collecting three hits, two
runs and two RBI. Winiecki, Baligod and Elder each had two
hits.
Randon
Lingle (3-5) took the loss for Western, allowing nine runs (seven
earned) on 11 hits in five-plus innings.
The Golden
Eagles and Leathernecks conclude their series at 1 p.m.,
Sunday.
--ORU--
