The Oral Roberts baseball team opened Summit League play with a 10-2 victory over St. Thomas Friday afternoon at J.L. Johnson Stadium. In the win, senior Jake McMurray became the seventh player in program history since 1999 to register 200 career hits.
Jakob Hall picked up his second win of the season after tossing seven innings of two-run baseball to go along with eight strikeouts. The quality start was the fourth of the year and second straight for the sophomore. In relief, Caleb Isaacs and Hudson Hart each threw a scoreless frame.
Jonah Cox registered his team-leading 12th multi-hit game of the season after going 3-for-5 at the plate to go along with a game-best four RBIs. McMurray joined Cox with a multi-hit performance as the Tulsa, Oklahoma, native finished the day 2-for-5 at the dish. On the afternoon, ORU registered a season-best 10 walks to go along with nine hits.
St. Thomas claimed the early lead, 1-0, with an RBI single up the middle in the first. An inning later, the Golden Eagles evened the score, 1-1, on an RBI single off the bat of Jacob Godman.
In the fifth, Cox dropped a blooper down the right-field line to plate Blaze Brothers and Mac McCroskey, giving ORU their first lead of the contest, 3-1.
The Tommies battled back in the ensuing frame as three straight hits cut the Golden Eagles’ advantage to one, 3-2. With the tying run on third and no one out, Hall forced a ground ball to third and Holden Breeze nailed the runner at the plate to keep ORU in front. The right-hander then induced a pop-up and a ground out to end the threat.
ORU added insurance in the seventh courtesy of a Matt Hogan sacrifice fly followed by a Breeze two-run homer to left. The big fly was Breeze’s second of the season as the lead grew to 6-2. In the ninth, ORU plated four more runs courtesy of a pair of two-run singles off the bat of Cox and Hogan as they went on to take the series opener 10-2.
Inside the Box Score
– The Golden Eagles registered a season-best 10 walks.
– Six different ORU players logged a hit.
– The Golden Eagles swiped a season-best seven bases.
– Brothers stole a season-high three bases, while Cox and McCroskey each swiped two bags.
– Breeze (2), Cox (4), and Hogan (3) each recorded a multi-RBI performance.
– McCroskey logged three walks and three runs, which led all players.
– Garrett Casey reached base three times courtesy of two walks and a hit-by-pitch.
– As a staff, ORU struck out nine on the day.
Notes
– Friday’s series opener marked the fourth meeting all-time between the two club’s.
– With the win, ORU is now 3-1 all-time against the Tommies.
– In Summit League openers, the Golden Eagles are 19-3 all-time.
– In League home openers, ORU is 19-3 all-time.
– McMurray logged the 200th hit of his career and made his 101st consecutive start for ORU.
– Hall has now thrown seven innings three times this season and has registered eight strikeouts in all three.
– With three RBIs in the contest, Hogan has now logged 11 on the week.
– Cox has now hit safely in 18 of the 19 contests this season.
– Brothers has now reached base in 10 straight games.
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