Oral Roberts takes two from Western Illinois

TULSA, Okla. – The Western Illinois Baseball team dropped both games of a doubleheader to Oral Roberts at J.L. Johnson Stadium, Saturday, April 24.

The Fighting Leathernecks (9-27, 2-9 Summit) led early in both games, but the Golden Eagles (21-17, 9-2 Summit) rallied to win both games and send Western to its fifth straight loss.

The teams will conclude their four-game series tomorrow at 1 p.m. as Western looks to avoid a four-game sweep and a 17th straight loss to Oral Roberts.

Game 1 - Oral Roberts 13, Western Illinois 3 (7 innings)

Oral Roberts picked up a 13-3 run-rule victory in seven innings in the first game of the day. The Golden Eagles outscored Western Illinois 12-1 over the final four innings.

The Golden Eagles jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first game of the afternoon, scoring on Seth Furmanek's RBI groundout in the bottom of the first.

Western Illinois responded with two runs in the top of the second on RBI singles by Rich Mascheri and Tom Lilja to take a 2-0 lead, but Oral Roberts would jump back in front with a five-run third inning.

The Golden Eagles took the lead on the strength of a three-home run bottom of the third, scoring five times to make the score 6-2. Tyler Saladino got the inning going with a two run shot to left field to put Oral Roberts in front 3-2. Furmanek followed with a solo shot, his 10th of the season and Robert Barbosa line a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall to give the Golden Eagles a 6-2 lead after three innings.

Oral Roberts would tack on a single run in the fourth and got two more in the fifth on a two-run homer by Colby Price to push the lead to 9-2 before the Leathernecks picked up a single run in the sixth to make the score 9-3.

The Golden Eagles added four runs on in the bottom of the sixth to take a 13-3 lead and held Western scoreless in the top of the seventh to pick up the victory.

James Dunn (2-1) picked up the complete-game win, allowing three runs on seven hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out five.

Devin VanBrooker (3-3) took the loss, allowing seven runs on eight hits in 3.1 innings. He walked three and struck out two.

Oral Roberts outhit Western Illinois by a 14-to-7 margin and did not commit an error while the Leathernecks committed three. Mascheri and Lilja both finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and Dan Dispensa extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a 1-for-2 effort.

Game 2 - Oral Roberts 9, Western Illinois 3 (7 innings)

Oral Roberts took a 1-0 lead in the second inning of game two, but the Leathernecks responded with three runs in the top of the third, including RBI singles from Anthony Kaskadden and Bryan Jordan, to make the score 3-1.

The Golden Eagles answered back, scoring the final eight runs of the ball game to cruise to a 9-3 win. Oral Roberts picked up three runs in the fourth to make it 7-3 and tacked on single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to pick up their third straight victory.

The Leathernecks were outhit by a 12-to-8 margin and both teams committed two errors in the contest. Mascheri and Chris Giglio each finished 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Bryce Smolen (5-2) picked up the complete-game victory, allowing three runs on eight hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out ten.

Randon Lingle (3-5) took the loss, allowing nine runs (seven earned) on 11 hits in 5.0 innings. He walked three and struck out seven.

Dispensa saw his hitting-streak end at 16 games as he went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts. Kaskadden picked up two hits, finishing the game 2-for-4 with a run scored and one RBI.

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Players Mentioned

#6 Dan Dispensa: OF; 6' 0"; Redshirt; L/R

#32 Devin VanBrooker: LHP; 6' 4"; Junior; L/L

#34 Rich Mascheri: LHP/OF; 5' 10"; Junior; L/L

#4 Anthony Kaskadden: IF; 5' 10"; Junior; R/R

#15 Bryan Jordan: OF/IF; 5' 11"; Junior; R/R

#26 Tom Lilja: OF; 6' 0"; Sophomore; R/R

#11 Chris Giglio: IF; 6' 0"; Junior; R/R

Players Mentioned

#6 Dan Dispensa
: 6' 0"; Redshirt; L/R
: OF

#32 Devin VanBrooker
: 6' 4"; Junior; L/L
: LHP

#34 Rich Mascheri
: 5' 10"; Junior; L/L
: LHP/OF

#4 Anthony Kaskadden
: 5' 10"; Junior; R/R
: IF

#15 Bryan Jordan
: 5' 11"; Junior; R/R
: OF/IF

#26 Tom Lilja
: 6' 0"; Sophomore; R/R
: OF

#11 Chris Giglio
: 6' 0"; Junior; R/R
: IF