MINNEAPOLIS -- Top-seeded Oral Roberts xxx third-seeded Northern Colorado in an elimination game of the 2026 Summit League Baseball Championship at Siebert Field. The Golden Eagles' victory puts them in the title game, which they are now 26-for-26 in achieving as a league member.
ORU broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fourth after Cooper Kelly and Ethan Fender registered back-to-back, run-scoring hits. Kelly plated Wailele Kane-Yates with an RBI single and Fender followed, ripping a two-run single to give the Golden Eagles an early 3-0 edge.
The Bears' offense also woke up in the fourth, stringing together a trio of singles to open the frame before Jake Bullard plated their first run with a one-out RBI single to trim the deficit to 3-1. That would be all ORU starter Nathan Love would give up in the frame, however, as the Bears left three stranded.
Love only allowed two hits outside of the fourth inning as he gave the Golden Eagles a quality start. He equaled his career-high with seven innings, allowing just the one earned run on six hits, while striking out four.
UNC reliever Trevor Landen entered in the fourth and limited the Golden Eagles to just two hits over 4.2 innings to help keep ORU off the scoreboard over the final five frames.
The Bears were able to muster a two-out single off Maddox Thornton in the ninth but that was the only baserunner he allowed over the final two innings to record his sixth save of the season.
Pitcher of Record
Win – Love (4-2): 7.0 IP, 6 hit, 1 earned run, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts
Loss – Louthan (0-3): 3.2 IP, 4 hits, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts
Save - Thornton (6): 2.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts
Notable Notes
• ORU is now 26-for-26 in advancing to the Summit League Championship title game and has won the title 22 times
• This will be the sixth time ORU has faced SDSU in the title game with the Golden Eagles prevailing in the first five matchups
• Love equaled his career-high in innings pitched with seven as he won his fourth game of the season
• Fender led a seven-hit ORU attack with his fourth multi-hit game of the season
• Landen equaled his longest scoreless outing of the season, tossing 4.2 innings out of the UNC bullpen
Up Next
The Golden Eagles will play South Dakota State in Saturday's title game at 1 p.m. CT. Coming out of the loser's bracket, ORU has to defeat the Jackrabbits twice to claim the postseason title and earn the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
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