The Basics
Score: Oral Roberts 16 – Omaha 9
Records: ORU (22-10, 8-0), Omaha (11-13, 4-4)
Location: Omaha, Neb. (Tal Anderson Field)
Win: Joshua Caravalho (5-1) | Loss: Preston Tenney
 
OMAHA, Neb. – Behind a season-high tying five home runs, the Oral Roberts baseball team defeated Omaha, 16-9, Friday afternoon from Tal Anderson Field. With the win, the Golden Eagles claimed their fourth straight series and improved to 8-0 in Summit League play for the first time since 2009.

Joshua Caravalho picked up the win in relief after tossing three innings of one-run baseball and striking out three. The victory marked Caravalho's fifth of the season, which leads the Summit League. Lefty Jacob Widener struck out six in two innings of work out of the bullpen.

Matt Hogan, the reigning Summit League Player of the Week, delivered another dominant performance at the plate, finishing 3-for-4 with two homers, two RBI and four runs scored. The redshirt senior also walked twice and stole a base. Blaze Brothers, Jonah Cox and Mac McCroskey also registered a home run in the win.

Hogan opened the scoring in the second with his first homer of the day, a solo blast down the right-field line. Following a single from Drew Stahl and a ground-rule double from Holden Breeze, Ryan Blackwell extended the lead to 3-0 with a two-run ground-rule double. 

In the bottom half of the frame, Omaha responded with four runs, highlighted by a three-run homer from Zach Lechnir, to jump in front.

ORU answered in the fourth as Justin Quinn plated a pair with a double to right-center to put the Golden Eagles back in front, 5-4. 

Hogan added to the lead, 6-4, in the fifth with his second solo home run of the day. The long ball marked the Melville, New York, native's League-leading 13th of the season. Later in the frame, Breeze stretched the advantage to 7-4 with an RBI single. Stahl scored the third run of the frame on a double play as ORU pushed its lead to 8-4.

In the sixth, McCroskey blasted a three-run homer to left as the Golden Eagles' advantage jumped to 11-4. The home run was McCroskey's sixth of the season, which marks a new career-high for the redshirt senior.

After Omaha got a run back in the bottom half of the sixth on a solo homer to left, Brothers responded in the seventh with his ninth long ball of the season, sending a solo shot down the left-field line. 

The Mavericks continued to fight back in the bottom half of the seventh as they cut the ORU lead to 12-7 behind a solo homer and an RBI double.

The Golden Eagles fired back with three more runs in the eighth as their advantage grew to 15-7. In the frame, Breeze recorded his second RBI single of the day.

Following a two-run homer by the Mavericks in the bottom half of the eighth, Cox capped the scoring with a solo blast to left to make the final 16-9, ORU. For Cox, the long ball was the junior's third of the season.

Inside the Box Score
- ORU totaled 16 runs on 17 hits.
- All nine players in the lineup recorded a hit.
- ORU recorded a season-best seven doubles.
- Breeze, Cox and Hogan each tallied three hits apiece.
- McCroskey and Stahl each registered two hits in the win.
- Hogan scored a game-best four runs. 
- Blackwell, Breeze, Hogan, McCroskey and Quinn each plated multiple runs on the day.
- Hogan drew a game-high tying two walks. 
- Quinn stole a career-high two bases in the victory.
- Cox logged his team-leading 15th steal of the season.
- Hogan swiped his fifth base of the year.
- Jakob Hall made the start for ORU and allowed four runs over three innings.
- Evan Kowalski pitched one inning in relief. 
- As a staff, the Golden Eagles struck out 15 Mavericks.

Notes
- Friday's contest marked the 45th meeting all-time between the two clubs.
- With the win, ORU improved to 35-11 all-time against the Mavericks and has won six straight in the series.
- With the victory, the Golden Eagles are off to their best start (8-0) in League play since 2009. 
- Cox logged his team-leading 19th multi-hit performance and extended his hit streak to 16 games.
- Hogan recorded his team-leading 14th multi-RBI performance of the season.
- Breeze stretched his on-base streak to 19 games.
- Jake McMurray reached base safely for the 15th straight contest and has now started 114 consecutive games.
- Stahl pushed his on-base streak to 10 consecutive games.

Up Next
The Golden Eagles will go for the series sweep tomorrow at 1 p.m.

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