ORU punches first CWS ticket since 1978 with 11-6 win over Oregon

Oral Roberts University punched its first College Baseball World Series ticket in 45 years Sunday with an 11-6 win over the Oregon Ducks.

The 5-run victory came in the ‘Winner Take All’ third game of the Eugene Super Regional in Eugene, Oregon.

The last time the Golden Eagles reached the CWS was 1978, where Oral Roberts (known as the Titans) went 1-2 and was eliminated with a 5-3 loss to the Miami (FL) Hurricanes in an elimination game.

(Editor’s Note: Former Okmulgee High School and Oral Roberts baseball standout Ryan Neill is the associate head coach at Oral Roberts, while sophomore pitcher Brooks Fowler is the grandson of Dewar’s director of sports operations Joe Fowler. Matt Hancock, who was also a standout baseball player at Okmulgee, also played college baseball for the Golden Eagles.)

Oral Roberts will begin its second CWS appearance this Friday in an opening-round game against TCU, who won its Super Regional against 14th-seed Indiana State. Gametime for Friday’s opening- round meeting with the Horned Frogs was not available at presstime, as two Super Regionals were not completed until late Monday.

Oral Roberts reached the Eugene Super Regional after sweeping through the Stillwater Regional two weeks ago.

The Super Regional saw the first two games end on walkoff hits with Oregon taking Game 1 this past Friday by a 9-8 margin, while Oral Roberts evened the Best-of-3 series Saturday with an 8-7 victory.

In last Friday’s opening game against Oregon, Oral Roberts did all of its scoring in the top of the third for an 8-0 advantage. The highlight of the 8-run third came on a 3-run home run by Matt Hogan that put the Golden Eagles on top by a 4-0 margin.

Oregon broke up the shutout bid with two runs in the bottom of the third, then added three in the fourth to make it an 8-5 contest after four innings of action.

After a scoreless fifth, Oregon pushed across a run in the home half of the sixth and two in the seventh to deadlock the score at 8-8 with two innings remaining in regulation.

Neither team managed any runs in their half of the eighth, while Oral Roberts failed to retake the lead in the top of the ninth to send the opening contest to the final half-inning of regulation with the score still tied at 8-8.

The bottom of the ninth began with back-to-back walks. The contest came to a close with one out in the frame on an RBI single to right to give the host Oregon Ducks the 9-8 victory.

Last Friday’s loss to Oregon snapped Oral Roberts’ 21game win streak.

In Saturday’s ‘must win’ for Oral Roberts, the host Ducks got the scoring started with a run in the top of the second.

Oral Roberts answered with three runs in the home half of the inning to take over the lead at 3-1. The 3-run second began with a 2-run single to left by Drew Stahl.

After a scoreless third, Oregon tied the score at 3-3 with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth. Oral Roberts regained the lead, 4-3, with a run in the bottom of the inning, while Oregon took back the lead, 5-4, with two runs in the top of the fifth, then added two more in the seventh for a 7-4 advantage.

Oral Roberts cut the deficit to two, 7-5, with a run in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI double by leadoff hitter Jake McMurray, then made it a 7-6 contest in the eighth on Jonah Cox’s leadoff solo home run.

After Oregon failed to add to its lead in the top of the ninth, the Golden Eagles completed the rally with two runs in the bottom of the ninth on a 2-run single down the left-field line by Justin Quinn, giving Oral Roberts the thrilling 8-7 win and even the Best-of-3 Series at one win apiece.

In Sunday’s ‘Winner Take All’ Game 3, Oral Roberts opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first for an early 1-0 advantage.

Oregon answered with three runs in the bottom of the first to lead 3-1 after one inning of action.

After a scoreless second, Oral Roberts cut the deficit to one, 3-2, with a run in the top of the third, then took over the lead at 5-3 with a 3-run fourth, beginning with an RBI single by Jake McMurray. The other two Golden Eagle runs in the inning came on an RBI walk to Matt Hogan and an RBI fielder’s choice groundout by Mac McCroskey.

Oregon made it a 5-4 contest with a run in the bottom of the sixth, then Oral Roberts plated three runs in the top of the seventh to extend its lead to 8-4 after six and one-half innings of action.

Oregon’s run in the bottom of the seventh cut the ORU lead to three, 8-5, and remained a 3-run advantage for the Golden Eagles after eight innings after neither team managed any runs in their half of the eighth.

Oral Roberts tacked on three insurance runs in the top of the ninth, while Oregon was held to just one run in the last of the frame to award ORU the 11-6 victory and its first CWS trip in 45 years.

Brooks Fowler got the start for Oral Roberts on Sunday and allowed three runs on five hits, striking out one and walking two in four and two-third innings of work. The sophomore right-hander came up one-third of an inning short of qualifying for the pitching win for the Golden Eagles in Sunday’s win.