Box Score
WACO, Texas -
Dallas Baptist University used multi-run efforts in the 2nd, 3rd
and 4th innings to beat Oral Roberts University, 11-8, on Saturday
night on day two of the Waco Regional at Baylor Ballpark. The loss
sends ORU to the losers half of the bracket, where they will face
No. 4 Baylor on Sunday afternoon.
The winner of the afternoon matchup will face Dallas Baptist on
Sunday night and must win that game to force a winner-take-all
battle with the Patriots on Monday.
Senior Mike
Torrence (5-6) got the start and suffered the loss for ORU,
allowing six runs on seven hits in 2.2 innings of work. Aaron
Gilbreath (4-3) pitched 3.2 innings of relief, putting out several
ORU fires to earn the victory after DBU starter Cy Sneed was
removed in the 3rd inning.
Catcher Duncan McAlpine was the hitting hero for Dallas Baptist
(41-17), going 3-for-5 with a mammoth 3rd inning home run and five
RBI. Boomer Collins and Ryan Behmanesh also homered for the
Patriots, who now have two chances to advance to next week's Super
Regional round of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship.
Brandon
Healy tallied a four-hit day for ORU (38-24), while Nate
Goro and Brandon
King each came up with a pair of hits.
It was Dallas Baptist who struck first, hitting Torrence for three
runs in the 2nd. After the first three men reached, McAlpine
singled home a pair, and Kenny Hatcher followed with an RBI single
of his own. But the Patriots blew an opportunity to add more after
failing a squeeze bunt attempts and getting a runner picked off,
leaving the score 3-0 at the end of the inning.
The Patriots added four more runs in the 3rd. RBI singles by Landon
Anderson and Jaime Garrido chased Torrence from the game, and the
Golden Eagles turned to Alec
Smith. McAlpine greeted the junior with a two-run home run,
stretching the DBU lead to 7-0.
ORU's comeback attempt got rolling in the bottom of the 3rd, as Rob
Walton's team plated three runs. Healy's bases loaded single
brought two runners to the plate, and Jose
Trevino added an RBI groundout to cut the gap to 7-3.
Collins squelched the comeback momentarily with one swing of the
bat in the 4th inning. The right fielder took a 1-1 pitch from Matt
Rush and sent it over the left field fence to make the score 9-3 in
favor of the Patriots.
Another Patriot came home in the 5th inning. Anderson left off the
inning with a single and scored two batters later on another
McAlpine hit, adding to a lead that was now 10-3.
The Golden Eagles again hung another crooked number on the board in
the 5th inning to get back into the game. With the bases loaded and
no one out, Jared
Schlehuber reached on an error, bringing the first run of the
frame home. Cam
Schiller followed with a sacrifice fly and King came up with an
RBI single to slice the gap to 10-6.
Behmanesh gave the Patriots an insurance run in the 8th inning,
launching DBU's third home run of the night. This shot tucked
inside of the left field foul pole, increasing the lead to
11-6.
Oral Roberts got two runs in the 9th inning off a Kevin
Cho single, but ORU would not score again, relegating
themselves to the losers bracket of the Regional.
ORU's elimination game with Baylor is scheduled for 2 pm CT on
Sunday. If the Golden Eagles advance, they will face DBU at
approximately 7 pm CT. Live video coverage of every ORU game is
available at BaylorBears.com.