NORMAN, Okla.-Chris Ellison's two-out single in the bottom of the
tenth inning catapulted No. 11 Oklahoma to a 7-6 win over Oral
Roberts in the opening game of the NCAA Norman Regional, Friday at
L. Dale Mitchell Park.
The loss moves fourth-seeded ORU (35-26) into a loser's bracket
matchup at 1 p.m. Saturday against either No. 2 seed California or
third-seeded North Carolina. The Bears and Tar Heels play at 7
p.m., Friday. Oklahoma (45-15) will play the winner Saturday at 7
p.m.
With the bases loaded in the 10th, Ellison bounced
Sean Johnson's 0-1
pitch up the middle and just off of second baseman
Colby Price's glove,
allowing Cody Reine to score from third with the winning run.
The game went to extra innings due in part to Reine's solo home run
off Johnson (2-4) in the eighth inning. But OU second baseman Danny
Black made a game-saving play in the top of the ninth.
With runners on first and second and one out for ORU,
Tyler Saladino lined
an offering from Ryan Duke (2-0) up the middle for what appeared to
be a run-scoring single. But Black knocked the ball down before it
reached the outfield, keeping
P.J. Sequeira at third base
and the game tied. Duke then struck out Brett
Sowers and Price to end the threat.
Oklahoma jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the
second. The first run scored when Saladino mishandled a one-out
ground ball with the bases loaded. A Max White sacrifice fly three
batters later gave the Sooners and unearned run and a 2-0 lead.
Another ORU error gave Oklahoma a 3-0 in the fourth. Black led off
with a double and attempted to advance on a wild pitch. He scored
when catcher Bennett
Pickar threw wildly to third.
After OU starting pitcher Michael Rocha retired 10 of the first 11
batters he faced, the Golden Eagles finally broke through in the
top of the fourth when
Chris Elder launched an
opposite field solo home run to cut the lead to 3-1.
Oklahoma appeared to take control of the game with two runs in the
bottom of the fifth. Tyler Ogle and Black each had RBI single as
the Sooners went up, 5-1.
But the Golden Eagles finally got to Rocha in the top of the sixth.
Sequeira started the inning with a single and moved to second on a
walk to
Nick Baligod. Saladino
blasted an 0-1 offering over the leftfield fence for a three-run
homer, pulling ORU within 5-4.
Elder chased Rocha from the game with a double, and Seth
Furmanek greeted reliever Jeremy Erben with an opposite field
home run, putting ORU on top 6-5. The home run was Furmanek's 23rd
of the season, tying the Summit League single-season record, and
also gave ORU a team-record 101 home runs for the season.
The game remained 6-5 until Reien's home run in the eighth, thanks
to fine relief pitching by both Johnson and Erben. Johnson retired
the first seven batters he faced after relieving Smolen to start
the sixth, and Erben didn't allow a run after the Furmanek
homer.
ORU out-hit the Sooners, 13-11 but the Golden Eagles left six
runners on base over the last three innings. Saladino finished
3-for-5 with three RBI while Sequeira, Baligod, Elder and Furmanek
had two hits each.
Despite suffering the loss, Johnson struck out a career-high seven
batters in 4.2 innings. He allowed five hits and walked three (two
intentionally).
Black led OU with four hits.
--ORU--