Box Score NACOGDOCHES, Texas - For the second time this season, the Oral Roberts University baseball team opened a conference series with a mercy rule victory as the Golden Eagles cut down Stephen F. Austin on the road 11-1 on Friday.
ORU moved above .500 for the first time since March 3, 2012, as the Golden Eagles improved to 17-16 overall and 5-8 in Southland Conference play. The Lumberjacks dropped to 15-18 and 6-7 in the league.
All 10 Golden Eagles that came to the plate in the game recorded hits, including a pinch hit single by Graham McIntyre. Jose Trevino led the Golden Eagles with four hits, three runs batted in and crossed the plate twice, while Emmanuel Forcier picked up four hits, including a double. Matt Brandy and Brandon Healy also had multiple hit games with two single apiece.
ORU outhit the Jacks 18-7 in the victory, the most hits by a Golden Eagle squad since scattering 18 on March 31, 2012, against Louisiana Tech.
Guillermo Trujillo (2-2) threw his second complete game of the season, allowing just one run and striking out four in the victory. The Jacks ran four pitchers to the mound in the seven inning affair with Cameron Gann (4-1) taking his first loss of the season in 4.2 innings.
Conner Fikes and Nick Ramos each had a pair of hits for SFA, and Kyle Thornell added a double.
The Golden Eagles first three-run inning in came in the top of the third. Healy, Forcier and Logan Domenico connected for three straight singles, setting up a two-RBI single to left Trevino, giving the Golden Eagles a 2-0 lead. The next batter, Boss, flew out to deep right to drive in Domenico to make it 3-0 ORU.
Boss started the fifth inning with a single through the left side, scoring later in the inning on a two-run single by Audie Afenir. Brandy also scored on the Afenir single to extend the Golden Eagle lead 5-0. Forcier delivered the first ORU extra-base hit, the 12th total hit for the Golden Eagles, with a double to right to score Afenir for the sixth ORU run of the evening.
In the ORU half of the sixth, Trevino started the inning with a single to left and scored on a Graham McIntyre pinch hit single to extend the lead to 7-0 for the Golden Eagles.
The 'Jacks answered in the home half of the sixth as Will Vest delivered an RBI single to plate Nick Ramos to cut the ORU lead to 7-1.
ORU sealed the mercy rule victory in the top of the seventh with four runs on four hits. Trevino came to the plate with runners on the corners and picked up his second RBI single of the game to score Healy to make it 8-1 ORU. Two batters later, Anthony Sequeira doubled into the gap in left center to bring home Forcier, and Brandy followed by driving in Trevino and Sequeira for the final 11-1 spread.
The Golden Eagles look to clinch their first Southland series victory on Saturday as they hook up with the Lumberjacks in game two in Nacogdoches, Texas, at 2 p.m.
