The Basics
Score: No. 10 Oral Roberts 15 – South Dakota State 2
Records: No. 10 ORU (45-11), South Dakota State (23-27)
Location: Fargo, N.D. (Newman Outdoor Field)
Win: Jakob Hall (8-3) | Loss: Blake Kunz (1-7)
 
FARGO, N.D. – The No. 10 ranked and top-seeded Oral Roberts baseball team advanced to their 23rd consecutive Summit League Championship title game with a 15-2 victory over three-seed South Dakota State Thursday afternoon from Newman Outdoor Field in Fargo, North Dakota. 

With the win, ORU pushed the nation's longest active win streak to 17 games and is 35-3 in its last 38 contests. 

In the eighth, center fielder Jonah Cox extended his hitting streak, the nation's longest active, to 40 games. The junior, who became the 12th player in NCAA Division I history to reach the milestone, has now recorded a hit in 55 of the 56 games this season. 

On the mound, Jakob Hall earned the win after tossing five scoreless frames and striking out five. In relief, Jacob Widener, Dalton Patten and Cade Denton each registered scoreless appearances. 

Matt Hogan reached base safely in all six plate appearances going 4-for-4 with two walks. The senior also registered two RBI and crossed the plate three times. Shortstop Mac McCroskey went 3-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored in the win. Blaze Brothers, Justin Quinn and Drew Stahl rounded out the multi-hit performers for the Golden Eagles. 

ORU jumped in front in the second as Jake McMurray delivered an RBI single through the right side to score Jacob Godman, who reached on a walk. 

McCroskey stretched the advantage to 2-0 in the third with an RBI triple and later crossed the plate on an RBI groundout from Holden Breeze. 

Two more Golden Eagle runs crossed the plate in the fifth as Hogan scored on a Jackrabbit fielding error and Stahl plated McCroskey with an RBI single. 

A pair of wild pitches by SDSU in the seventh allowed two ORU runs to score, increasing the lead to 7-0. Quinn plated the third run of the frame with an RBI single to right that scored Brothers, who reached on a hit-by-pitch. Another Jackrabbit miscue allowed Quinn to score from first as the Golden Eagle advantage jumped to 9-0. 

In the eighth, six more Golden Eagle runs came around to score as their lead bloomed to 15-0. Breeze, Brothers and Stahl each registered an RBI in the frame, while Hogan plated two. 

SDSU broke through on the scoreboard in the ninth, plating a pair of runs to make the final 15-2, in favor of ORU. 

Inside the Box Score
- ORU totaled 15 runs on 17 hits and walked eight times. 
- Brothers, Hogan, McCroskey, Quinn and Stahl each recorded multi-hit performances. 
- Hogan reached base safely in all six plate appearances going 4-for-4 with two walks. 
- Breeze, Hogan and Stahl each plated a pair of runs in the win.
- Hogan and McCroskey scored three times apiece. 
- Quinn also registered two walks in the win.
- As a staff, ORU struck out nine Jackrabbits.
- Hall registered five strikeouts in five scoreless frames. 
- Widener totaled two strikeouts in two shutout innings.

Notes
- Thursday's contest marked the 94th meeting all-time between the two clubs.
- With the win, ORU improved to 74-20 in the series and has won 12 of the last 13. 
- The Golden Eagles have now advanced to the Summit League Championship title game in all 23 appearances. 
- The win moved ORU to 71-7 all-time in the Summit League Championship. 
- The Golden Eagles extended the nation's longest active win streak to 17 games and are 35-3 in their last 38 games. 
- The 17 straight wins mark ORU's longest streak since 2000. 
- Cox extended his hit streak, the nation's longest active, to 40 games and has recorded a hit in 55 of the 56 games this season. 
- The junior became the 12th player in NCAA Division I history to record 40 straight games with a hit.
- Hogan pushed his on-base streak to 28 games in the win.
- Breeze has now reached base safely in 22 straight contests.
- McMurray made his 138th consecutive start and has reached safely in 21 straight games.
- Stahl stretched his on-base streak to 15 games, while Quinn extended his to 13. 

Up Next
The Golden Eagles will face the winner of North Dakota State and South Dakota State on Saturday at 1 p.m. from Newman Outdoor Field. 

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.

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