The Basics
Score: Oral Roberts 6, Western Illinois 4
Records: ORU (10-14, 3-2 Summit), Western Illinois (8-14, 4-5 Summit League)
Location: Macomb, Ill. (Alfred D. Boyer Stadium)
 
MACOMB, Ill. – The Oral Roberts baseball team kicked off their weekend series with a 6-4 victory over Western Illinois in Macomb, Illinois. Freshman Cade Denton picked up his first collegiate win out of the bullpen, while Adam Scoggins picked up his second save of the season.

Joshua Cox doubled in both of his first two plate appearances, scoring Caleb Denny from second both times. Cox's double were the Golden Eagles only hits through the first four innings.

Alec Jones pushed the ORU lead to three runs in the sixth inning when he laid down a safety squeeze, scoring Blake Hall from third base.

In the sixth inning, Western Illinois got a trio of runs to tie the game at three apiece. The Golden Eagles responded immediately in the seventh inning with three runs of their own to retake the lead. Ryan Cash got the inning started when he drew a 10-pitch walk, eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly from Denny. Hall followed Denny's lead with a sacrifice fly to plate Jake McMurray from third. Cox scored the final run of the inning after a bases loaded balk.

Denton and Scoggins combined for four innings of work out of the bullpen, allowing just one run.
 
Turning Point
Western Illinois committed three errors in the ballgame and the Golden Eagle offense capitalized on each of them. Both of Cox's doubles came on the pitch following an error and Jones' sacrifice squeeze followed an error in which Hall reached on.

Inside the Box Score 

• ORU picked up their 10^th win of the season and move their record to above .500 in conference play.
• Joshua Cox tallied new career-highs with three hits and two doubles on Friday afternoon.
• Cox became the fourth Golden Eagle with two doubles in a game this season.
• Tanner Rogen allowed just two hits through the first five innings of action.
• Jake McMurray extended his team-high hitting streak to 10 games and his on-base streak to 17 games.
• ORU is now 4-0 on the season when opponents make two or more errors in a game.
• The Golden Eagles move to 3-1 when they score in the first inning.

Up Next
The Golden Eagles will be back in action against Western Illinois on Friday when the two programs square off in a doubleheader. First pitch from Alfred D. Boyer Stadium will take place at noon and can be found streaming on the ORU Sports Network.
 
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