The Basics
Oral Roberts  13 – South Dakota State 11
Oral Roberts 14 – South Dakota State 11
Oral Roberts (33-20, 20-9) – South Dakota State (16-33, 12-17)
Location: Erv Huether Field
Win: Conner Johnson (2-4), Loss: Dylan Driessen, Save: Jack Hill (1)
 
BROOKINGS, SD. - The Oral Roberts baseball team erased a six-run deficit to clinch the weekend series against South Dakota State and stay in a tie for first in the Summit League.
 
Will Edmunson blasted his second three-run homer of the weekend with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting ORU to its 33^rd victory of the season.
 
The Golden Eagles came out swinging on Friday afternoon, scoring three times in the top of the first inning on a Jack Schark two-run double and an Ethan Fender RBI single to take a 3-0 lead.
 
SDSU would get on the board in the second with two runs on a homer to make it a one-run ballgame.  ORU came back with a run of their own in the top of the third however as Makani Tanaka drove in a run on a single ot make it a two run game. 
 
The bottom half of the third was all Jackrabbits, however, as they scored five times, all highlighted by a grand slam, taking a 7-4 lead.  All of those runs came with nobody out.
 
Weston Rouse came in the fourth and surrendered three runs but took control after that, posting three consecutive zeros and striking out a career high 10 batters, keeping ORU in it down the stretch.
 
ORU got three runs back in the top of the fifth inning as Owen Coil reached on an infield single, and a throwing error on the play allowed Fender and Tanaka to score.  Moments later, Edmunson smacked a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Coil. 
 
In the seventh, the Golden Eagles continued to creep back into the game with two more runs on a throwing error, allowing Schark to reach and Cooper Combs to score, and then a Tanaka RBI groundout scored Wailele Kane-Yates. 
 
In the eighth the Jackrabbits finally got back on the board with a solo homer, a massive run of insurance at the time for SDSU.
 
Trailing 11-9 in the ninth with two outs, Martell Davis reached on an infield single back to the pitcher, allowing Tanaka to score, who led the inning off with a base hit.  Moments later, after Keaton Campbell drew a walk, Edmunson drove a three-run homer over the right field fence, giving ORU a 13-11 lead. 
 
In the ninth, Jack Hill came on and went 1-2-3 in the ninth inning with a strikeout as ORU came back to win game three.  They are in a tie for first place with St. Thomas and can win the outright Summit League regular season title with a win and a Tommies loss.
 
Inside the Box Score 
-            ORU has scored nine or more runs in their last four games, hitting 17 homers in their last seven
-            Edmunson now has six RBIs in the series, all coming on homers
-            Weston Rouse's 10 strikeouts are the most by any bullpen arm this season in the Summit League
 
Game Notes
-            ORU has hit 17 homers in their last seven games
-            The Golden Eagles can win the outright Summit League regular season title with a win and a St. Thomas loss
-            Oral Roberts is a season-best 13 games above .500 and is 5-0 against SDSU
 
 
Up Next:
The Golden Eagles look to sweep the series with South Dakota State and go for the Summit League regular season title on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Brookings, South Dakota.
 
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.