TULSA, Okla. – Second-seeded Oral Roberts jumped out early on third-seeded South Dakota State as the Golden Eagles posted a 9-4 victory in game two of the #SummitBSB Championship at the J.L. Johnson Stadium.
The Golden Eagles (36-18) plated a trio of runs in the first two innings off SDSU starter Nic McCay and never trailed in a contest that saw four ORU hitters finish with multiple hits.
First baseman Jake McMurray started the scoring by leading off the bottom half of the first by sending a breaking ball over the leftfield fence. Justin Quinn added an RBI-single and came around to score later on a wild pitch to make it a 3-0 contest after one inning of play.
McMurray had the first of three ORU hits in the second when he laced a one-out double to the leftfield gap. He would score on an RBI-single from Caleb Denny.
Justin Loftin followed by placing a two-run double just inside the rightfield foul line to make it a 6-0 advantage for the Golden Eagles after two.
All six runs were charged to McCay (4-4), who gave up seven hits and walked two in 1.1 innings of work for the Jackrabbits (22-22).
SDSU was able to cut its deficit in half in the fourth when Nic Nelson connected on a three-run homer. The Jackrabbits had registered just a single through the first three frame against ORU starter Isaac Coffey.
ORU was able to tack on a pair of unearned runs in the fifth to extend their lead to 8-3. After an error by SDSU extended the inning, Quinn would scor on a balk and Loftin would score on a sacrifice fly by Joshua Cox.
The Jacks pushed one more run across off Coffey in the sixth when he plunked Jordan Sagedahl with the bases loaded.
That would be all the damage SDSU could muster, however, as the three-time All-Summit League performer struck out Henry George to end the threat. George was Coffey's ninth strikeout of the contest, matching his season-high.
After being hit by a pitch, Loftin stole two bases in the seventh and came around to score on an errant throw by catcher Derek Hackman to push ORU's lead to 9-4.
Brooks Fowler relieved Isaac Coffey and struck out six Jackrabbits over the final two innings to close out the game.
Pitcher of Record
Win – Isaac Coffey (7-5): 7.0 IP, 4 hits, 4 runs, 3 earned runs, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Loss – Nic McCay (4-4): 1.1 IP, 7 hits, 6 earned runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts
Notable Notes
• The Golden Eagles have won their opening game at The Summit League Championship in all 22 appearances (1998-2012, 2015-19, 2021-22)
• SDSU has now dropped four consecutive opening-round games at the postseason event.
• ORU first baseman Jake McMurray's first-inning home run was his fourth of the season and third in his last six games.
• SDSU third baseman Nic Nelson's three-run homer in the fourth gave the Jackrabbits a home run in 25 of their last 27 games and was the 60th of the season for the club.
• ORU starter Isaac Coffey matched his season-high with nine strikeouts that he set in a victory over Northern Colorado on May 1.
Up Next
Oral Roberts will play fourth-seeded Omaha in game four of the tournament at 6:05 p.m. CT Friday, while the Jackrabbits will play top-seeded North Dakota State in the first elimination game of the event earlier in the day at 12:05 p.m. CT.
#SummitBSB
