TULSA, Okla. – Second-seeded Oral Roberts struck early for the second consecutive game at the #SummitBSB Championship to defeat fourth-seeded Omaha, 12-8, and has now advanced to the tournament title game in each of their 22 tournament appearances.
For the second straight game, ORU's offense generated three runs in its first at-bat to grab an early lead. Loftin started the scoring with a two-run single off starter Mark Timmins and Breeze capped it with a sacrifice fly.
Timmins, who did not yield a run to the Golden Eagles in two regular season starts that spanned 13.2 innings, only lasted the first frame and the Golden Eagles touched up reliever Joey Machado for three more runs in the third to double their advantage.
Holden Breeze opened the scoring in the third with an RBI-single and Alec Jones capped it with a two-run single on a play where Connor Beichler was thrown out at the plate trying to score on an errant throw in from the outfield.
ORU starter Ledgend Smith cruised through the first three innings after his offense spotted him six runs, but the Mavericks' bats came to life in the fourth, scoring five runs on five hits, a walk and a hit batsmen off the Summit League Pitcher of the Year.
In fact, Summit League Player of the Year Mike Boeve drove home the first run with a RBI-double, then later scored on a wild pitch. Jack Lombardi added an RBI-single, Devin Hurdle chipped in with a RBI-groundout and Will Hanafan capped the rally with an RBI-single.
Jones helped quell the momentum in ORU's next at-bat, however, delivering two more runs with a double just inside the bag at third, giving him a career-high four runs batted in. Jake McMurrray would add a two-out, run-scoring single to give ORU three runs in an inning for the third time in the game, pushing the lead to 9-5.
Omaha answered with back-to-back solo home runs in the fifth off smith as the blasts from Eduardo Rosario and Eddie Satisky cut the Mavericks' deficit in half. Satisky's home run was his first of the campaign.
The Mavericks' Will Hanafan led off the sixth with a walk and stole second to put a runner in scoring position with nobody out, but he was picked off during the next at-bat, squelching that rally.
The ORU bats added three more runs in the eighth to extend the lead to 12-7. Caleb Denny led off that frame with his team-leading 11th home run of the season and Connor Beichler capped the scoring with a two-run single.
Omaha would tack on an unearned run in the ninth off Cade Denton when Noah Greise laced a RBI-double down the rightfield line, but that would be the only run the Mavericks could muster off the Golden Eagles' bullpen.
Kaleb McCullough and Denton combined for 4.2 innings of relief as the duo scattered four hits and struck out three.
Pitcher of Record
Win – Kaleb McCullough (2-0): 2.2 IP, 2 hit, 0 earned runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts
Loss – Mark Timmins (2-3): 1.0 IP, 2 hits, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts
Notable Notes
• These teams split their six regular season matchups with Omaha winning the series at ORU (2-1) and the Golden Eagles winning the series at Omaha (2-1).
• In the regular season matchup where Legend Smith and Mark Timmins squared off, neither pitcher yielded an earned run in a contest that went scoreless until the 11th when ORU scored twice on wild pitches to win 2-0. Smith went 7.1 innings, while Timmins went 6.2.
• Seven different Golden Eagles had multiple hits and four had multiple-RBI.
• The Mavericks had six players with multiple hits and seven different players register an RBI
• This is the 15th time ORU has opened the tournament 2-0 since it moved to a four-team format in 2001. The Golden Eagles have gone onto to win the title each of those times.
Up Next
Oral Roberts advanced to its 22nd Summit League Championship title game, which is set for 1:05 p.m. CT on Sunday with an "if necessary" game to potentially follow 30 minutes after its conclusion. The Mavericks will take on top-seeded North Dakota State Saturday at 4:05 p.m. in an elimination game and the winner moving on to face the Golden Eagles.
#SummitBSB
