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ORUBaseball | ORUAthletics |
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TULSA, Okla. – Following its opening weekend at home, the Oral Roberts baseball team hits the road for a three-game series at Baylor. Game one is scheduled for Friday night at 6:30 p.m. with live coverage of each contest on Big 12 Now via ESPN+.
Fans also can follow along all season on social media and with two mobile apps, ORU Golden Eagles Live and ORU Front Row, available on the App Store and Google Play.
THE STORYLINE: The Golden Eagles split their opening series at home against Merrimack winning the first and last games of the weekend. ORU is coming off a 29-26 season a year ago, but has 21 returning letterwinners and eight talented newcomers.
SERIES HISTORY: ORU trails the Bears 25-19 in the all-time series. Baylor has won six of the last seven meetings, but the teams have not met on the diamond since a NCAA Regional in Waco, Texas, in 2012.
SCOUTING THE BEARS: Baylor has showcased its high-powered offense through four games owning a team batting average of .333. Jared McKenzie leads the Bears hitting .588 in four starts, while Nick Loftin has seven RBI on four extra-base hits. The pitching staff has allowed opponents to score seven runs per game, despite a shutout of Arkansas Pine-Bluff Tuesday.
HOME OPENER HISTORY: After a win on opening day, the Golden Eagles pushed their record to 44-10 all-time in game one, while winning 37 of 43 home openers played at J.L. Johnson Stadium.
CIRCLE THE BASES: Aided by Blake Hall's two home run effort Saturday, ORU has hit three home runs, matching the rest of The Summit League in total round trippers.
SHINING BRIGHT ON THE DIAMOND: After adding a LED video board measuring 33 feet high and 19 feet wide in 2019, ORU installed a high-efficiency lighting system for 2020 making game day at J.L. Johnson Stadium even brighter.
CROWN REPLACEMENT: ORU will have to replace a bulk of its offensive production from a season ago as junior Spencer Henson was drafted in the 9th round. Henson was the 2019 Summit League Player of the Year following his second-straight Triple Crown title hitting .362 with 19 home runs and 51 RBI. He joined Steve Holm (2000) and Brian Van Kirk (2008) as Golden Eagles to achieve the milestone and is the only player in league history to win the award twice in a career.
TOP OF THE CLASS: ORU's Isaac Coffey returns to the lineup in 2020 following a decorated first season at the collegiate level. The Goleta, California, native earned Freshman All-American honors from five different news outlets in 2019 as a utility player. He became the 16th student-athlete to earn the accolade in program history and the first since Matt Whatley in 2015.
RETURNING LEAGUE HONOREES: Coffey and Blake Hall return to the ORU lineup as All-Summit League performers from 2019. Coffey was the first team utility selection, while Hall was a second team outfielder.
CHALLENGES AT EVERY TURN: The 2020 schedule will prove to be a challenging slate for ORU. The Golden Eagles face six teams that advanced to a NCAA Regional, including Arkansas (College World Series) and Oklahoma State (Super Regionals), a season ago accounting for more than a quarter of its 56-game schedule.
BACK WITH EXPERIENCE: After having a roster with more than 20 newcomers in 2019, the 2020 squad flips the script and features 21 returning letterwinners and just eight new transfers.
HOME CROWD: With nine of its first 12 games at J.L. Johnson Stadium to open the season, the Golden Eagles have a chance to get off to a great start.
LIFE ON THE ROAD: The Golden Eagles will have to learn to sleep in different beds across the region during a 12-game road swing from March 27-April 14. ORU will play in five different states during the stretch, the second-longest span of games on the road in the program's 54-year history. Another eight-game trip away from home takes place between May 1-10.
SUCCESS AT HOME: With Coach Folmar at the helm, ORU has tallied a 143-65 (.688) record in home games and won 20 or more contests in each of the last five seasons. The Golden Eagles have tallied a mark of 63-12 (.840) at home against teams from The Summit League in that time.
POWER FIVE TILTS: Coach Folmar and the Golden Eagles always have taken on the NCAA's top conferences and are scheduled to battle five again in 2020. ORU is 34-32 against teams in Power Five conferences during his tenure, including an 18-5 mark in home games. Since the start of the 2015 season, ORU has posted a 30-25 mark against Power Five opponents, going 16-8 when facing a team from the Big 12.
NEW STREAK STARTS NOW: The Golden Eagles saw their streak of 18-straight Summit League regular season and 19-consecutive tournament titles as members of the conference come to an end in 2019. ORU has reached 28 NCAA Regionals in program history, including the 1978 College World Series and the 2006 Super Regionals.
DESTINATION OMAHA: The ultimate goal of 2020 is to reach the NCAA College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, June 13-23. It will take a run through the 2020 Summit League Championships, presented by U.S. Air Force Special Warfare, scheduled for May 20-23 at Omaha to get there.
STAYING CONNECTED: Follow the Golden Eagles all season long across social media platforms. Use the hashtag #ORUBase and #GoldenStandard to stay connected with fans across the nation on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
WHERE TO CATCH US: Listen live to every ORU baseball game in 2020 on the ORU Sports Network. All 28 home games also will have free video on the improved ORU Sports Network featuring an upgraded, four-camera broadcast. Links to video and live stats can be found at www.ORUAthletics.com.
For the latest information on ORU Baseball, follow the Golden Eagles on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or go to www.ORUAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on the team by downloading two mobile apps, ORU Golden Eagles Live and ORU Front Row, available on the App Store and Google Play.
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