TULSA, Okla. – A late rally by Oral Roberts sent Western Illinois to an 11-7 loss in the first game of a four-game series, Friday, April 23 at J.L. Johnson Stadium.
The Fighting Leathernecks (9-25, 2-7 Summit) rallied from a four-run deficit to take a 7-5 lead, but the Golden Eagles (19-17, 7-2 Summit) rallied to score the final six runs of the game to snap a three-game losing streak.
Western took an early 1-0 lead in an RBI single by Cole Wadell in the top of the first inning, but Oral Roberts would respond with three runs in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by Seth Furmanek's two-run homer to left field to take a 3-1 lead.
The Golden Eagles tacked on two more runs in the third on RBI singles by Nick Baligod and Chris Elder to push the lead to 5-1, but the Leathernecks would rally ro score the next six runs and take a 7-5 lead.
Wadell's RBI single in the fifth, his second of the day, pulled Western Illinois within three runs at 5-2 before a four-run sixth inning gave the Leathernecks a 6-5 lead.
Chris Giglio's two-run home run, the first of his career, made the score 5-4 with no outs in the sixth inning. A two-out triple by Dan Dispensa would plate two more runs later in the inning to give Western Illinois a 6-5 lead heading into the seventh inning.
The Leathernecks pushed the lead to 7-5 on Giglio's RBI single in the top of the seventh, but the Golden Eagles chipped into the lead with a run in the bottom half of the inning to make the score 7-6.
After holding Western scoreless in the eighth inning, Oral Roberts would explode for five runs in the bottom of the eighth, taking the lead for good on Tyler Saladino's three-run homer to left. The Golden Eagles tacked on two more runs in the inning on RBI singles from Tyler Garewal and Jared Schlehuber to make the final 11-7.
Chris Macek (2-4) took the loss, allowing four runs on three hits in 1.2 innings in relief. He walked one and struck out two.
Sean Johnson (2-1) picked up the win, allowing one run on three hits in two innings of relief work. He walked one and recorded one strikeout.
Beau Below got the start for the Leathernecks and left with a 7-5 lead after allowing five runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings. He walked two and struck out one.
Dispensa and Giglio each finished the day 3-for-5 with a run scored. Dispensa extended his hitting streak to a season-high 15 games and Waddell finished 2-for-4 with two RBI.
The Golden Eagles outhit the Leathernecks 14-to-12 and committed just one error to Western's two. Oral Roberts picked up its 14th straight win over Western Illinois in the process.
The two teams meet again in a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. tomorrow before wrapping up the four-game series with a single game at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
