FARGO, N.D. – Top-seeded Oral Roberts stayed perfect in opening round games at the Summit League Baseball Championship, earning a 9-2 victory over fourth-seeded Omaha Wednesday at Newman Outdoor Field. The Golden Eagles are now 23-0 in first-round action as their quest for a 21st tournament title saw them extend their overall winning streak to 16.
ORU took advantage of a shaky start by Omaha's Harrison Kreiling as they scored twice in the opening frame without recording a hit. Kreiling walked three in the frame and the Golden Eagles were able to plate runs on a wild pitch and a balk to grab a quick 2-0 lead.
In the second, the regular season champions loaded the bases with a pair of walks and their first hit of the game, which chased Kreiling from the contest. ORU then greeted reliever Jackson Gordon by producing a trio of run-scoring hits in their first four at-bats off the righthander. Left fielder Justin Quinn started with a two-run single before Jonah Cox and Mac McCroskey each added a RBI single to push ORU's advantage to 6-0.
Cox's single pushed his hitting streak to 39 games as the Summit League Player of the Year has now hit safely in 54 of ORU's 55 games this season.
Blaze Brothers hit a two-run homer for ORU in the fifth to make it an 8-1 contest. For Brothers, it was his 11th home run of the campaign.
Omaha's Eddie Satisky was the only Maverick to do any damage off ORU starter Harley Gollert, who picked up his 10th win of the season. Satisky hit solo home runs in the fourth and sixth innings to provide the Mavericks with their only runs of the game. Satisky had only homered twice in 46 regular season contests coming into the game.
Gollert struck out seven in seven innings of work before giving way to Joshua Caravalho, who fanned four Mavericks over the final two innings.
Pitcher of Record
Win – Harley Gollert (10-1): 7.0 IP, 7 hits, 2 earned runs, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Loss – Harrison Kreiling (0-4): 1.0 IP, 1 hits, 5 earned runs, 5 walks, 1 strikeout
Notable Notes
• Omaha's Eddie Satisky homered twice in the loss after hitting just two home runs in 46 regular season games for the Mavericks. The last player to hit two long balls in a Summit League Tournament game was Oral Roberts' Mac McCroskey in last year's 21-2 win over Omaha in the title game. Satisky finished the game 3-for-4.
• With the win, ORU improved the nation's longest winning streak to 16 and the Golden Eagles are now 23-0 all-time in opening round games of the Summit League Tournament.
• ORU centerfielder Jonah Cox delivered an RBI single in the third to extend his hitting streak to 39 games, which now is tied for the 12th-longest in NCAA Division I history.
• ORU second baseman Blaze Brothers belted his 11th home run of the season
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Up Next
Oral Roberts will play the winner of the contest between No. 2 seed North Dakota State and No. 3 seed South Dakota State at 6:05 p.m. CT on Thursday. Omaha will play the loser of that contest earlier in the day with first pitch of that game slated for 12:05 p.m. CT.
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