The Basics
Score: No. 24 Oral Roberts 8 – St. Thomas 1
Records: No. 24 ORU (36-11, 20-1), St. Thomas (7-28, 5-13)
Location: St. Paul, Minn. (Koch Diamond)
Win: Brooks Fowler (6-1) | Loss: Evan Esch (2-3)
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The No. 24 Oral Roberts baseball team captured its 20th Summit League regular season title and second in the last three seasons outright Sunday afternoon, completing the three-game sweep of St. Thomas with an 8-1 victory from Koch Diamond.

The sweep improved the Golden Eagles, who have won eight straight and 26 of their last 29, to 36-11 overall, marking their best 47-game start since 2004. The victory also marked the 11th time ORU has reached at least 20 League wins in program history.

On the mound, Brooks Fowler tossed five shutout innings and struck out two en route to his sixth win of the season. In relief, Jacob Widener struck out three in 2.1 innings of work. 

Jonah Cox logged his team-best 26th multi-hit performance of the year and pushed his hitting streak to 31 games after going 2-for-4 with an RBI. First baseman Jake McMurray reached base safely in his first five at-bats and finished 1-for-2 with three walks on the day. Mac McCroskey and Matt Hogan each drove in a game-best two RBI in the win. 

Hogan opened the scoring in the third with a two-run single that brought around McMurray and Justin Quinn. 

Two innings later, McCroskey increased the advantage to 4-0 with a two-run double down the left-field line. McCroskey later came around to score on a throwing error by the Tommies as ORU led 5-0. Holden Breeze kept the offense rolling in the frame with an RBI single and later crossed the plate on a sac fly from Quinn as the Golden Eagle advantage grew to 7-1. 

In the seventh, the Tommies broke through on the scoreboard with an RBI single. 

Cox capped the scoring in the eighth with an RBI triple to right-center as ORU went on to win 8-1. The triple marked the League-leading seventh of the season for the junior. 

Inside the Box Score
- ORU totaled eight runs on nine hits. 
- Breeze and Cox recorded multi-hit performances. 
- Hogan and McCroskey each drove in a game-best two RBI.
- McMurray reached base safely five consecutive times and drew three walks. 
- Jacob Godman matched McMurray with three walks in the win. 
- Fowler tossed five shutout frames.
- Evan Kowalski made an appearance out of the bullpen.
- Widener struck out three in 2.1 innings of work. 

Notes
- Sunday's finale marked the ninth meeting all-time between the two clubs.
- With the win, ORU improved to 8-1 all-time against the Tommies and has won seven straight in the series.
- The Golden Eagles have won eight games in a row and 26 of their last 29.
- The Summit League regular season title marked the 20th for ORU since joining the conference in 1998. 
- Cox extended his hit streak to 31 straight games and has now recorded a hit in 46 of the 47 games this season.
- The junior also logged his 26th multi-hit performance of the year.
- Hogan extended his on-base streak to 19 games.
- The redshirt senior also recorded his team-best 16th multi-RBI performance of the season.
- Breeze has now reached base safely in 13 straight games.
- McMurray, who made his 129th consecutive start, pushed his on-base streak to 12 games.
- In his last 20 innings on the mound, Widener has struck out 33 batters and allowed only three runs. 

Up Next
The Golden Eagles conclude their four-game road trip with a midweek contest at Wichita State Tuesday at 6 p.m.

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