Box Score LITTLE ROCK - Oral Roberts (11-11) and UALR (13-15) combined for 29 runs, 29 hits and 21 walks on Tuesday night, with the Golden Eagles edging the Trojans 15-14 in a 4:27 nine-inning marathon. Tied at 14-all after seven innings, the Golden Eagles scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and ORU's Sean Johnson blanked the Trojans over the final 2.2 frames to pick up the win.
UALR scored three runs in each of the first two innings to take an early 6-3 lead, and held a 6-5 edge after five frames. ORU exploded for seven runs in the top of the sixth to go on top 12-6, but the Trojans answered immediately, plating seven runs in the bottom half to retake the lead, 13-12. Both teams batted around in the sixth inning, as the two squads combined to score 14 runs in the frame.
ORU tacked on two runs in the top of the seventh off run-scoring single by Brandon King and a RBI groundout from Spencer Barnett to reclaim the lead, 14-13. The Trojans evened things up at 14-all in the bottom half as junior Nick Rountree hit a double to left and came around to score off a RBI base knock by senior Jake Rowell. UALR missed a chance to take the lead however, as Rowell was thrown out at the plate (7-6-2) as he tried to score from first on a double to the gap by junior Justin Barnes.
The Golden Eagles loaded the bases in the top of the eighth with one out on the board off a Trojan fielding error, a single up the middle and a walk. Chris Elder broke the 14-all tie when he pushed across Joey Winiecki with a ground ball to first. UALR junior Bubba Cooper retired the next two batters he faced to prevent ORU from extending its lead, but the Trojan offense was unable to manufacture a run over the final two frames.
Johnson allowed a leadoff single to junior Sean Bignall in the bottom of the eighth, but retired the next three Trojans he faced in order (with two strikeouts) to preserve the 15-14 lead. Rountree tried to spark the Trojans with a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth, but Johnson induced a game-ending 4-6-3 double play from the next batter to seal the win. Johnson improved to 2-2 on the year by holding the Trojans to three hits, with two strikeouts, over 2.2 scoreless innings of relief.
Rowell was one of three Trojans to tally three hits in the loss, going 3-for-6 with two runs scored and five RBI. UALR's first baseman hit a three-run homer in the first (his second of the year) to give UALR an early 3-1 lead, and added run-scoring singles in the sixth and seventh innings. Sophomore Myles Parma added a 3-for-6, two RBI performance, while Rountree went 3-for-5 with two runs scored.
Elder led the ORU offense by going 2-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBI, and belted a two-run homer in the top of the fifth. Catcher Bennett Pickar added a 3-for-5 effort, while outfielder Joey Winickie scored four runs and racked up three stolen bases.
Cooper (0-2) took the loss for UALR despite allowing just one hit and one run (unearned) over 2.0 innings of relief.
UALR returns to action this weekend when it welcomes Middle Tennessee to Gary Hogan Field for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series. Game one is slated for Friday night at 6 p.m.
