The Basics
Score: Oral Roberts 13 – South Dakota State 1
Records: ORU (14-9, 2-0), South Dakota State (6-14, 0-2)
Location: Tulsa, Okla. (J.L. Johnson Stadium)
Win: Ledgend Smith (3-2) | Loss: Cody Carlson (3-3)
 
TULSA, Okla. – Ledgend Smith struck out a career-high 11 and Caleb Denny launched his third grand slam of the season as the Oral Roberts baseball team run-ruled Summit League foe South Dakota State, 13-1, in seven innings Saturday afternoon at J.L. Johnson Stadium. With the win, the Golden Eagles clinched the series against the Jackrabbits.

Smith dominated on the mound, tossing six shutout innings en route to his third win of the 2022 campaign. The redshirt senior struck out two batters in each of the first five innings Saturday.

On offense, Denny matched his career-high for RBIs with six in the victory, finishing 3-for-4 at the plate. With the three hits, Denny has now surpassed 100 for his career.

AJ Archambo drove in four runs on the day and has now registered 11 RBIs in his last five starts.

Jackson Loftin got things going offensively for the Golden Eagles in the second as the redshirt junior led off the inning with a triple. The Houston, Texas, native later crossed the plate on an RBI groundout by Archambo to make it 1-0, ORU.

In the third, Mac McCroskey launched a two-run homer to right-center, bumping the Golden Eagles lead to 3-0. The homer was the first of the season for the Springdale, Arkansas, native.

The ORU offense continued to apply pressure as three batters later, Archambo stepped up with the bases loaded. The senior ripped a double down the left-field line to clear the bases and extend the ORU lead to 6-0.

Friday's starter, Isaac Coffey, brought around Archambo in the next at-bat with an RBI single up the middle to make it 7-0, Golden Eagles.

ORU continued to pour it on in the fourth as Denny launched his third grand slam of the season to increase the lead to 11-0. The Owasso, Oklahoma, native brought home two more runs in the fifth with a single down the right-field line to up the advantage to 13-0.

A solo homer in the seventh off the bat of Ryan McDonald made the final tally 13-1, ORU.
 
Inside the Box Score
- Denny, Loftin and Connor Beichler all registered multi-hit performances in the win.
- In the victory, Denny collected the 100th hit of his career.
- Loftin reached on all three plate appearances on the afternoon, finishing 2-for-2 with a walk.
- The redshirt junior also tallied his second triple of the season.
- Seven on the nine Golden Eagles in the lineup recorded a hit.
- Jake McMurray, McCroskey, Denny, Loftin and Beichler all crossed the plate twice in the victory.
- McCroskey's homer was his first of the season.
- McMurray drew a game-high two walks.
- Beichler swiped his first base of the season in the fourth.
- Smith struck out a career-high 11 batters in the win.
- Brooks Fowler closed out the contest in the seventh, allowing one run with one strikeout.
- ORU tallied double-digit runs for the seventh time this year.
- The Golden Eagles improved to 6-0 when homering twice this season.

Notes
- Saturday's contest marked the 85th meeting all-time between the Golden Eagles and Jackrabbits.
- ORU now holds a 66-19 edge in the series, including a 42-8 mark at J.L. Johnson Stadium.
- Head Coach Ryan Folmar is now 38-11 in his career against SDSU.

Up Next
The Golden Eagles will go for the series sweep over the Jackrabbits Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.

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