ORU Falls to Dallas Baptist, 11-8
WACO, Texas -- (orugoldeneagles.com) Dallas Baptist University used multi-run efforts in the second, third and fourth innings to beat Oral Roberts University, 11-8, on Saturday night on day two of the Waco Regional at Baylor Ballpark. The loss sends ORU to the losers half of the bracket, where they will face No. 4 Baylor on Sunday afternoon.
The winner of the afternoon matchup will face Dallas Baptist on Sunday night and must win that game to force a winner-take-all battle with the Patriots on Monday.
Senior Mike Torrence (5-6) got the start and suffered the loss for ORU, allowing six runs on seven hits in 2.2 innings of work. Aaron Gilbreath (4-3) pitched 3.2 innings of relief, putting out several ORU fires to earn the victory after DBU starter Cy Sneed was removed in the third inning.
Catcher Duncan McAlpine was the hitting hero for Dallas Baptist (41-17), going 3-for-5 with a mammoth third inning home run and five RBI. Boomer Collins and Ryan Behmanesh also homered for the Patriots, who now have two chances to advance to next week's Super Regional round of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship.
Brandon Healy tallied a four-hit day for ORU (38-24), while Nate Goro and Brandon King each came up with a pair of hits.
It was Dallas Baptist who struck first, hitting Torrence for three runs in the second. After the first three men reached, McAlpine singled home a pair, and Kenny Hatcher followed with an RBI single of his own. But the Patriots blew an opportunity to add more after failing a squeeze bunt attempts and getting a runner picked off, leaving the score 3-0 at the end of the inning.
The Patriots added four more runs in the third. RBI singles by Landon Anderson and Jaime Garrido chased Torrence from the game, and the Golden Eagles turned to Alec Smith. McAlpine greeted the junior with a two-run home run, stretching the DBU lead to 7-0.
ORU's comeback attempt got rolling in the bottom of the third, as Rob Walton's team plated three runs. Healy's bases loaded single brought two runners to the plate, and Jose Trevino added an RBI groundout to cut the gap to 7-3.
Collins squelched the comeback momentarily with one swing of the bat in the fourth inning. The right fielder took a 1-1 pitch from Matt Rush and sent it over the left field fence to make the score 9-3 in favor of the Patriots.
Another Patriot came home in the fifth inning. Anderson left off the inning with a single and scored two batters later on another McAlpine hit, adding to a lead that was now 10-3.
The Golden Eagles again hung another crooked number on the board in the fifth inning to get back into the game. With the bases loaded and no one out, Jared Schlehuber reached on an error, bringing the first run of the frame home. Cam Schiller followed with a sacrifice fly and King came up with an RBI single to slice the gap to 10-6.
Behmanesh gave the Patriots an insurance run in the eighth inning, launching DBU's third home run of the night. This shot tucked inside of the left field foul pole, increasing the lead to 11-6.
Oral Roberts got two runs in the ninth inning off a Kevin Cho single, but ORU would not score again, relegating themselves to the losers bracket of the Regional.
ORU's elimination game with Baylor is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT on Sunday. If the Golden Eagles advance, they will face DBU at approximately 7 p.m. CT. Live video coverage of every ORU game is available at BaylorBears.com.
