Oral Roberts Holds Off North Dakota State in Summit League Opener, 6-4

Friday, April 4

Tulsa, Okla.

7 p.m.

North Dakota State

6-12, 0-1

Oral Roberts

17-7, 1-0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
North Dakota State	0	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	4	5	1
Oral Roberts	0	0	4	0	0	2	0	0	X	6	9	2

Oral Roberts Holds Off North Dakota State in Summit League Opener, 6-4

4/5/2008 4:26:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

TULSA, Okla.--Oral Roberts erased an early 3-0 deficit and escaped an eighth-inning jam to beat North Dakota State 6-4 in the Summit League baseball opener for both teams Friday, April 4.

No. 9 hitter Juan Martinez led off the ORU sixth inning with his second home run of the year, and it held up as the winning run for the Golden Eagles, who improved to 17-7 overall. NDSU dropped to 6-12.

David Genao delivered a two-out RBI single later in the sixth to extend ORU's lead to 6-3. North Dakota State pulled within one in the seventh on Kole Zimmerman's two-out RBI single, but the Bison left the bases loaded in the eighth inning and went down in order in the ninth.

North Dakota State took a 3-0 lead in the third inning with all the runs coming after two outs. Zimmerman was hit by a pitch on an 0-2 count to extend the inning, Sebastian Miles served an 0-2 pitch into center field to plate the first run, a balk scored Zimmerman from third, and Miles came in on a throwing error.

But Oral Roberts answered with four runs in the bottom of the third. The Golden Eagles sent 10 men to the plate and took advantage of three walks, two hit batters and a wild pitch. The only hits in the inning were an RBI double by Ben Petralli and a run-scoring single by Ryan Groth.

Genao, who finished with two RBIs, had a sacrifice fly during the inning. Petralli and Brendan Duffy both finished 2-for-4 for Oral Roberts, and starting pitcher Jerry Sullivan (4-2) struck out six batters in seven innings for the win.

Oral Roberts reliever T.J. Kelly struck out three of the five batters he faced to pick up his fifth save of the season.

Zimmerman was the only Bison player with multiple hits. He finished 2-for-4. Starting pitcher Jake Laber (0-4) threw 143 pitches in 5 2/3 innings. He was responsible for all six runs on eight hits with five walks and four strikeouts.

The four-game series continues with a doubleheader at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 5.