Box Score CONWAY, Ark. - Seven different Oral Roberts University batters crossed the plate on Saturday night as the Golden Eagles tamed Central Arkansas, 8-4, on the road. ORU (24-22) moved back into an eighth place tie with the Bears (23-20) as each squad's Southland Conference mark to 11-12.
Matt Brandy led the Golden Eagles at the plate with four hits and two runs, while Logan Domenico and Audie Afenir each finished with two hits. All nine Golden Eagle starters reached safely with hits in the contest.
Gavin Glanz (3-4) earned the win as he pitched six innings, allowing two runs on six hits. Kurt Giller went two innings without allowing a run, and Jordan Romano got the last out of the game with the bases loaded for his conference-best 10th save.
Tyler Langley drove in three of the Bears' runs on a triple in the seventh inning. Langley finished with two hits, as did Doug Votolato, Justin Treece and Wesley Hoover. Starting pitcher Chris Caudle (6-4) took the loss, allowing six runs in 4.2 innings.
The Golden Eagles used two-run innings in the third, fourth and fifth innings to jump out to a 6-0 lead. ORU's scoring started in the third as Brandon Healy laid down squeeze bunt to score Afenir and Emmanuel Forcier followed with an RBI double to drive in Austen Colt, making it a 2-0 lead for the Golden Eagles.
In the next inning, the Golden Eagles extended their lead as Brandy doubled and scored on a triple by Anthony Sequeira. Afenir followed with a deep fly ball to center to bring home Sequeira to extend the lead to 4-0.
Following a two-out single by Domenico in the fifth, Trevino stepped in and hit his eighth home run of the season over the scoreboard in left field to bring the score to 6-0 after five innings.
In the home half of the seventh, the Bears cut into the Golden Eagle lead with four runs. With the bases loaded, Chris Townsend reached on a fielder's choice with a runner being forced out at third. However, in an attempt to turn a double play, the ball was thrown away, allowing a run to score for the Bears' first run of the evening.
After a walk loaded the bases for the second time in the inning, Langley cleared the bases with a triple to left center cut the lead to 6-4.
But in the top of the eighth, the Golden Eagles answered with a pair of runs. On the first pitch of the inning, Boss hit a home run out to left center, his third home run of the season. Later in the inning, the Golden Eagles went up 8-4 as Brandy scored on a groundball off the bat of Healy.
The Bears threatened in the bottom of the ninth as the loaded the bases, but Romano entered the game and induced a fly ball to right for the final out of the night.
ORU goes for the series victory at UCA on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. in Conway, Ark.
