The Basics
Oral Roberts 0 – #9 Oklahoma 14
Oral Roberts (27-31-1) vs. Sooners (38-19)
Location: Norman, Okla. (L. Dale Mitchell Park)
 Win: Kyson Witherspoon (8-3) Loss: Jakob Hall (10-3) 

NORMAN, Okla.– The Oral Roberts baseball team opened NCAA Tournament play Friday night with a in-state showdown against host-institution, #9 Oklahoma.

The Sooners would get on the board early with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first while the Golden Eagles applied the pressure early on Kyson Witherspoon forcing the sophomore to throw 77 pitches but ORU was unable to make him pay as they left seven runners stranded on base in the first three frames.

In the bottom of the third, Oklahoma extended the lead with a two-run homer over the right field fence and later forced Jakob Hall into a bases loaded jam with two outs. However the right hander's 4th strikeout of the game would limit the damage and move him into 10th with Ron Meridith (1978) on the single-season strikeout leaderboard.

The Sooners built the lead to seven off two more homers while the Golden Eagles looked to kickstart the offense with one hit through six innings.

Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles that late rally never came to fruition and Oklahoma would cruise to an opening round victory.

Inside the Box Score
-  Alex Rodgers picked up his 18th multi-hit outing of the season

-  The Sooners now lead the all-time series 47-38

-  ORU leadoff hitters batted .333 on the night.

Game Notes
-   ORU clinched its 22nd Summit League Championship and 31st Regional appearance.

-   Ryan Folmar now has 398 career wins at ORU, 7 tournament championship titles, and will make his seventh trip to the NCAA Tournament.

-   ORU will play in their first regional elimination game tomorrow since 2022 (College Station Regional, L, 1-3 vs TCU).

-   With 110 strikeouts on the year, Hall now has sole possession of the 10th spot on ORU's single season strikeout leaderboard.  

Up Next

ORU will look to extend their stay in Norman as they play an elimination game against Duke at 2:00 PM. 

To access ORU Baseball Tournament Central: Click Here

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