The Basics
Score: Oral Roberts 10 – South Dakota State 3
Records: ORU (31-11, 16-1), South Dakota State (18-19, 10-7)
Location: Tulsa, Okla. (J.L. Johnson Stadium)
Win: Harley Gollert (6-1) | Loss: Blake Kunz (0-4) | Save: Jacob Widener (1)
 
TULSA, Okla. – The Oral Roberts baseball team clinched its seventh straight series with a 10-3 victory over Summit League foe South Dakota State Saturday afternoon from J.L. Johnson Stadium. The seven consecutive series wins mark the longest streak for the Golden Eagles since 2017.

Harley Gollert collected his sixth win of the 2023 campaign after working six innings of two-run baseball to go along with seven strikeouts and no walks. In relief, Jacob Widener picked up his first career save after tossing three innings of one-run baseball. The redshirt sophomore also struck out five on the day and did not issue a walk.

Blaze Brothers led all players with a three-hit day, while Garrett Casey, Jake McMurray and Justin Quinn each recorded a multi-hit performance. Casey, McMurray and Jacob Godman also plated a game-high two RBI apiece in the victory. 

The Jackrabbits struck first in the opening frame, 1-0, courtesy of a sacrifice fly. In the bottom half of the first, Jonah Cox evened the contest at 1-1 with a sacrifice fly of his own to score McMurray, who reached on a walk.

After four scoreless frames from each side, the Jackrabbits broke the tie in the sixth with a solo shot to left. In the bottom half of the frame, Casey delivered the answer for the Golden Eagles as the junior belted a two-run homer to center to put ORU in front, 3-2. The long ball was the first of the season for the Owasso, Oklahoma, native.

Later in the frame, McMurray pushed the lead to 4-2 with an RBI single up the middle that plated Brothers, who reached on a single.

A solo home run off the bat of Reece Anderson trimmed the ORU lead to 4-3 in the seventh. In the bottom half of the inning, the Golden Eagles tacked on three insurance runs, highlighted by a two-run homer off the bat of Godman. The long ball marked the third of the season for the senior, who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the top half of the frame. 

Following the homer, Brothers reached on a double and stole third before scoring on a McMurray RBI double as the ORU advantage grew to 7-3. 

Three more Golden Eagle runs crossed the plate in the eighth, making the final tally 10-3. In the frame, Mac McCroskey, Holden Breeze and Brothers each picked up an RBI. 

Inside the Box Score
- ORU tallied 10 runs on 13 hits in the win.
- The Golden Eagles walked seven times on the day.
- Four ORU players recorded a multi-hit performance in the win.
- Brothers led all players with a 3-for-4 performance at the dish.
- The redshirt senior also plated a run, scored twice and stole two bases. 
- Casey, Godman and McMurray each recorded a game-best two RBI.
- Drew Stahl drew a game-high two walks.
- Cox swiped his team-best 21st base of the year.
- Gollert struck out seven over six strong innings.
- Widener punched out five Jackrabbits in three innings.
- The two combined for 12 strikeouts and zero walks.

Notes
- Saturday's contest marked the 92nd meeting all-time between the two programs.
- With the win, ORU is now 72-20 all-time against the Jackrabbits and has won nine of the last 10 meetings.
- In Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Golden Eagles are 46-9 against SDSU.
- With the victory, ORU has now won 21 of its last 24 contests.
- Cox extended his hit streak to 26 games and has now tallied a hit in 41 of the 42 contests this season.
- McMurray logged his 124th consecutive start for the Golden Eagles. 
- Hogan pushed his on-base streak to 16 consecutive games. 
- Widener has now struck out 30 batters in his last 15.2 innings of work. 

Up Next
ORU will go for the series sweep tomorrow at 1 p.m. from J.L. Johnson Stadium.

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 the ORU Athletics app from the App Store or Google Play Store.

#GoldenStandard