Walk-Off Homer Puts ORU Past Trojans in 13 Innings

TULSA, Okla. – A 13-inning marathon saw Little Rock baseball fall 4-3 on a walk-off home run by Oral Roberts (2-0) on Saturday afternoon at J.L. Johnson Stadium.
 
The Trojans (0-2) took the loss despite masterful pitching from Trojan starter Cory Malcom who threw a career-high 11 strikeouts in seven innings while only giving up one run on three hits. Malcom's 11 strikeouts were the most by a Trojan pitcher since Jarrid Garcia's 11 against Georgia Southern in 2015.
 
"I couldn't be more proud of Cory Malcom, and that's why we throw him on Saturday," head coach Chris Curry said. "He can turn a series on the mound, and he showed great leadership. He pitched like a senior has to."
 
Malcom began the game by retiring the first 10 batters for Oral Roberts. Of the 10, Malcom sat six down on strikes. The streak ended with a double to left by Nick Roark, and with two outs, Noah Cumming sent an RBI single to left for Golden Eagles' first run.
 
The Trojans took control of the game in the top of the eighth inning. With two on and two outs, Dalton Thomas slammed a three-run homer over the left field wall to give Little Rock a 3-1 lead.
 
Cole Townsend came on to relieve Malcom to begin the bottom of the eighth inning and only allowed a walk.
 
With a two-run lead entering the bottom of the ninth, Joe Corbett came on to close out the game, but  Oral Roberts tied the game at 3-3 with a couple of runs.
 
Cody Daylor came on to begin the bottom of the 10th, but his appearance was short-lived as Preston Oberling entered the game after Daylor gave up a leadoff hit.  After Oberling loaded the bases with no outs, Dylan Slayton made his way out of the bullpen. Little Rock got a force out at home, a strikeout by Slayton and a ground out to short to leave the bases full of Golden Eagles.
 
Slayton was super effective in relief for the Trojans as he went 2.2 innings and set a new career high for strikeouts with five. He left the game in the bottom of the 12th with two outs and a runner on first as Cody McGill made his season debut from the bullpen. After McGill gave up a two-out walk, the Trojans brought out right-hander Keenan Wingfield. Wingfield got the Trojans out of the inning with a bases-loaded strikeout.
 
After the Trojans went down in order in the top of the 13th, the Golden Eagles' Michael Hungate put the game away with a leadoff homer to left.
 
"I'm proud of the way our club fought back, but the key stat for me was seven walks after the eighth inning," Curry said. "You have to execute the details and fundamentals. We did a great job of battling, and I thought we played better today. We felt a lot calmer, and we controlled our emotions. However, to turn the corner and beat somebody that's a championship club like Oral Roberts, we're going to have to get better at executing the details."
 
Little Rock will look to avoid the series sweep in the finale tomorrow at 1 p.m.