TULSA-Chris Elder's two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning of game two helped propel Oral Roberts to a doubleheader sweep of Summit League foe South Dakota State, Saturday at J.L. Johnson Stadium. The Golden Eagles won the opener 12-6, and rallied late for a 4-2 win in the nightcap.

ORU (29-18 overall, 17-6 Summit) now owns a one-game lead over the Jackrabbits (31-16, 16-7) with one game remaining in the series and five game left on the Summit League schedule.

ORU starting pitcher Alex Gonzalez and SDSU's Alex Oberle hooked up for a classic pitcher's duel in game two.

The Golden Eagles gained a 1-0 lead in the second when Elder led off with a double and scored two batters later on Jared Schlehuber's single up the middle.

South Dakota State tied the game by scoring an unearned run in the top of the third, and took a 2-1 lead in the sixth on Jesse Sawyer's bases loaded, two-out single.

The Jacks went to All-American closer Trevor Vermeulen to start the bottom of the sixth, and ORU's bats came alive. Brandon King led off with a single and Elder crushed a 1-0 pitch over the right-center field wall for a 3-2 ORU lead. After a double by Cam Schiller and a sacrifice bunt by Schlehuber, T.J. Bennett lined a run-scoring single over a drawn in infield to make it 4-2.

Gonzalez (7-5) retired the first batter in the top of the seventh, but was relieved by Lars Liguori after a one-out walk. Three pitches later, Liguori induced Billy Stitz into a 3-6-3 double play to end the 7-inning game, earning Liguori his first save of the season.

Gonzalez allowed one earned run on three hits and four walks while striking out five batters. His seven victories represent the most for an ORU freshman since Taylor McIntyre also won seven in 2003.

Elder finished game two 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs.

In the opening game, South Dakota State jumped out to an early 4-0 lead by getting three runs in the second and another in the third. But the Golden Eagles erupted for seven runs against SDSU starter Blake Treinen (5-3) in the third and never looked back.

Bennett had a two-run single, while Joey Winiecki and Schiller had RBI singles in the third, and another run scored on a ground out by Schlehuber. Elder knocked in a run when he was plunked with the bases loaded, and another run scored on a wild pitch.

Nick Baligod led off the fourth with a solo home run to make it 8-4. Zach Briggs hit a solo homer in the sixth for SDSU to pull the Jacks within 8-5, but a two-run homer by Bennett Pickar in the seventh, and a two-run shot by King in the eighth gave ORU a 12-5 lead.

Schiller led ORU with three hits in game one, while Baligod, Winiecki and Bennett had two hits apiece.

Dan Martony (3-0) earned the win for ORU by tossing 3.2 innings of relief. Martony allowed two runs on seven hits and struck out three.

Treinen went five innings and gave up eight runs (five earned) on six hits and four walks. He struck out eight.

The Golden Eagles look for the series sweep and a two-game lead in the standings when the teams meet in the series finale, 1 p.m., Sunday at J.L. Johnson Stadium.

--ORU--