BROOKINGS,
S.D.-South Dakota State used more late-inning heroics in game one
and solid effort in game two as the Jackrabbits swept a Summit
League doubleheader from Oral Roberts, Saturday at Erv Huether
Field.
In game one,
ORU (26-21 overall, 13-6 Summit) scored seven runs in the second
inning to take early control of the game. Colby
Price and Bennett
Pickar each knocked in runs without recording hits. Joey Winiecki knocked
in the third run on a sacrifice squeeze bunt for a 3-0 lead. Tyler
Saldino made it 4-0 with a run-scoring single and Seth
Furmanek followed two batters later with a three-run home run,
his league-leading 17th, as ORU surged to a 7-0 lead.
South Dakota
State (30-15, 13-6) scored a pair in the bottom of the third to
make it 7-2. Winecki knocked in his second run of the game for ORU
in the sixth inning to give the Golden Eagles an 8-2 lead.
But the
Jackrabbits continued to peck away at the lead, getting
back-to-back two from John Lee and Eric Cain in the bottom of the
inning to pull within 8-4.
ORU scored
its final run in the top of the seventh on a two-out error, but the
Golden Eagles couldn't muster any more.
SDSU scored
twice in the eighth before scoring three times in the ninth to send
the game into extra innings.
Starting
pitcher Seth Furmanek remained in
the game to start the ninth and struck out the first batter before
the Jacks rally began. Furmanek allowed the next four batters to
reach base. John Telford drove home the first run with a double,
making it a 9-8 game. After Furmanek walked Joel Blake to put
runners on first and second, he was relieved by Mark Guest.
Guest came
in and walked Jesse Sawyer to load the bases. Eric Cain followed
the walk with a game-tying single, but the play also resulted in an
inning-ending double play. ORU right-fielder Nick Baligod threw out
the potential winning run and home and catcher Pickar threw out
Sawyer as he rounded second base too far.
After a
scoreless tenth inning, South Dakota State won it in the bottom of
the 11th. Facing the top of the order, reliever Sean Johnson (2-3)
struck out the first batter, but put the go-ahead run on when he
walked John Telford. First baseman Jeff Fish reached on a bunt and
Sawyer knocked in Telford on a single just inside the third base
bag for the winning run.
The Golden
Eagles struck out 18 times in 11 innings against three different
pitchers. ORU did manage 11 hits, with Winiecki collecting
three.
In game two,
SDSU jumped out to an early an early 3-0 lead and never looked
back.
The
Jackrabbits roughed up ORU starter Jeff Burleson (7-3) in the
first inning, as their first four batters reached base. Blacked
knocked in the first run with a double and two more runs scored on
a hit by Sawyer for a 3-0 lead.
ORU got on
the board in the top of the second when Sowers knocked in Chris
Elder with a single, cutting the deficit to 3-1.
Lee doubled
in a run in the third as the Jacks took a 4-1 lead and the
advantage swelled to 7-1 when three more runs scored in the
fourth.
The Golden
Eagles tried to get back in the game with three runs in the fifth.
Baligod knocked in the first run with a single and Price added a
two-run hit to make it 7-4 but that was a close as ORU would
get.
Jared Koch
(2-1) picked up the win for SDSU, allowing three runs on seven hits
in 4.2 innings. While he didn't factor in the decision,
right-hander Dan
Martony tossed 2.1 innings of shutout relief.
Saladino led
ORU with three hits, including a double.
The series
concludes at 1 p.m., Sunday.
--ORU--
