The Basics
Score: Oral Roberts 14, South Dakota State 4 (Eight Innings)
Records: ORU (17-18, 8-5 Summit), SDSU (11-22, 6-11 Summit)
Location: Tulsa, Okla. (J.L. Johnson Stadium)
 
TULSA, Okla. –  The Oral Roberts baseball team continued their red-hot offensive ways with a 14-4 victory over South Dakota State on Friday evening.

Jake McMurray and Ryan Cash paced the way for the Golden Eagles, combining to go 9-9 at the plate with seven runs scored. McMurray became the first ORU player with five hits in a game since Jordan Wiley did so on March 8 of 2020.

ORU got on the board with three runs in the first inning, where they strung together four singles in five plate appearances. Caleb Denny and Hunter Swift knocked in runs with a pair of singles through the right side. South Dakota State was able to quickly respond with three runs of their own in the top of the second inning.

The Golden Eagles tacked on two more runs in the second to retake the lead. Joshua Cox plated Brody Gibson on a sacrifice fly to center field before McMurray scored on a throwing error later in the frame.

Colten Weber shined in relief for the Golden Eagles, throwing a career-long 5.0 innings and did not allow a run. Weber fanned three Jackrabbit hitters in his outing – just one short of his season best.

Cash picked up an RBI in the fourth inning when he scored Anthony Martinez on a sacrifice fly to right field.

South Dakota State would get a run back in the seventh inning, but the Golden Eagles blew the game open following the seventh inning stretch. In the bottom half of the seventh inning, ORU scored five runs, highlighted by a grand slam by Adam Oviedo.

In the eighth inning, the Golden Eagles used a bit of small-ball to push across a pair of runs before Oviedo got to play the hero once again with a walk-off single through the left side. Oviedo becomes the first Golden Eagle with five RBI since he accomplished the feat at Dallas Baptist earlier this season.

Turning Point
A towering grand slam to left-center field from Adam Oviedo swung the compass in the Golden Eagles favor for good. With one swing of the bat, Oviedo pushed the ORU lead from three runs to seven runs.

Inside the Box Score 

• ORU has scored 48 runs over their past three games, an average of 14.3 runs a game.
• Hunter Swift made his first pitching appearance of the season, throwing 2.0 innings while not allowing an earned run.
• Jake McMurray and Ryan Cash combined to go 9-9 at the plate in the Friday evening game.
• Despite getting just 1.0 inning out of the starting pitcher, ORU managed to use just three pitchers in the contest.
• Swift matched his career-high with three runs batted in on Friday.
• With four runs scored, McMurray matched his season and career-highs.
• Adam Oviedo launched the second ORU grand slam of the season. Caleb Denny hit the other on April 3 at Western Illinois.
• Oviedo's walk-off single was the first walk-off hit for ORU since April 12, 2019.

 Up Next
Oral Roberts and South Dakota State will be back in action on Saturday for a doubleheader. All of the action from J.L. Johnson Stadium will begin at 2:00 pm with a second game to follow. The Oral Roberts baseball program will have a brief pregame ceremony to honor the graduating seniors in the class of 2021.
 
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