FT. WAYNE,
Ind.-Oral Roberts connected for nine home runs in sweeping a Summit
League doubleheader from IPFW, winning 15-4 and 13-5, Saturday at
Mastodon Field.
Nick
Baligod led the Golden Eagles (25-18 overall, 13-3 Summit) at
the plate with a 5-for-6, 5-RBI performance. Overall ORU collected
32 hits on the day and finished the four-game series with 19 home
runs and a .467 (79-169) batting average.
Game
One - ORU 15, IPFW 4
ORU used an
11-run first inning to coast to a 15-4 victory. The Golden Eagles
also pounded three home runs in gaining their second run-rule
victory of the series.
The first
eight batters reached for ORU in the top of the first inning.
Baligod had a three-run homer and Brett
Sowers a two-run double all before an out was recorded. Joey
Winiecki drove in a pair of runs in his second at-bat of the
inning, Seth Furmanek knocked in one
with a fielder's choice and Chris Elder roped an RBI
single. Two other runs scored on wild pitches.
Jeff
Burleson (6-2) was the beneficiary of the first inning
explosion, and he took full advantage. The senior right-hander
allowed a two-run homer in the third and a pair of runs in the
seventh and nothing more. Burleson struck out the side in the first
and second innings, finishing the game with a season-high 10
punch-outs.
P.J.
Sequeira belted a two-run homer in the fourth inning to give
ORU a 13-2 lead. Bennett
Pickar had a solo shot in the seventh and Baligod added an RBI
single for a 15-2 advantage.
Baligod led
ORU at the plate, going 3-for-3 with four RBI. Elder had three hits
and Winiecki and Sowers had two hits each.
Game
Two - ORU 13, IPFW 5
Three
relievers combined to shutout the Mastodons over the final six
innings as Oral Roberts earned a series victory with a 13-5 win in
the finale.
Dallas Beeler (1-0),
Furmanek and Sean
Johnson combined to allow just 10 base runners over 6.2 innings
after starter Mark
Guest failed to make it out of the first inning.
ORU scored
three times in the top of the first on home runs by Saladino and
Elder, but Guest couldn't hold the lead. Beeler relieved with one
out in the bottom of the first and the game tied 3-3. IPFW scored
twice more in the inning for a 5-3 lead before ORU made its
comeback.
The Golden
Eagles tied the game in the top of the second on a two-run homer by
Colby
Price. An RBI single by Baligod four batters later gave ORU the
lead back at 6-5.
An RBI
double by Sequeira in the third made it 7-5, and three Tyler
Garewal drove in a run in the fifth for an 8-5 lead. Furmanek
hit a solo home run and Sequeira hit a two-run shot in the sixth
for an 11-5 advantage.
Saladino
capped the scoring for ORU in the seventh with a two-run homer for
a 13-5 lead.
Sequeira
finished the game 3-for-3 three RBI and three runs, while Saladino
and Baligod each collected three hits for ORU.
ORU visits
Wichita State, 7 p.m., Tuesday at Eck Stadium in Wichita, Kan.
--ORU--
