TEMPE, AZ�€"Oral Roberts University scored three runs
in the eighth and four more in the ninth as the No. 24 Golden
Eagles rallied for a stunning 9-7 win over No. 15 Arizona State,
Thursday at Packard Stadium.
Down 7-2 entering the
eighth, ORU (25-6) used an RB I single from Matt VanDerBosch (Hastings,
Minn.) and a two-run base hit from Brian Hanson (Kelseyville,
Calif.) off ASU closer Pat Bresnehan (3-2) to close within 7-5.
The Golden Eagles then
used clutch hitting, wildness from the Sun Devils (22-10) bullpen
and a costly error to score four times in the ninth.
Ricky Rivera (Santa Isabel,
P.R.) reached on a one-out walk and advanced to second on an
infield single by Jon
Tackett (Tulsa, Okla.). Staring pitcher Dennis Bigley (Lancaster,
Texas) batted as a pinch-hitter and singled to left, scoring Rivera
and moving Tackett to third. Pinch-hitter Scott Modeste (Sacramento,
Calif.) followed and reached on an error by second baseman Nick
Walsh as Tackett scored, tying the game at 7-7.
Reliever Travis Webb
next walked Ryan
Welborn (Yukon, Okla.) to load the bases and VanDerBosch
followed with a single to center, scoring Bigley and putting ORU up
8-7. The final run of the game scored when Modeste scored on a
fielder's choice grounder by Hanson.
But the Golden Eagles
had to dodge a bullet in the bottom of the ninth. Dane Towery (Mustang,
Okla.) got two outs but also walked two, and Justin Ramsey (Elk Grove,
calif.) came on to retire ASU star Jeff Larish on a fly ball to
straightaway right field for the final out, earning his second
save.
Bigley (6-1) battled
through a night which, for him, was three games in one. He faced
just seven batters over the first two innings, but then allowed two
runs in the third, four in the fourth (three coming on a
bases-loaded triple and then a balk), and a single run in the
fifth. He then settled down and retired the final 10 batters he
faced to keep ORU in the game.
The Golden Eagles
gained a 1-0 lead in the first when VanDerBosch led off with a
single and scored three batters later on an RBI single by Josh Lex (Elk Grove,
Calif.), one of three hits on the night by Lex.
ORU trimmed tied the
game at 2-2 in the top of the fourth, but missed on a chance to
break then game open when Hanson struck out with the bases loaded
and Grant
Plumley (Lake Forest, Calif.) bounced back to the mound to
end the threat.
Hanson and VanDerBosch
also had three hits for ORU, with Hanson getting three RBI. Tackett
had two hits and scored three runs in his first game back after
missing nearly two months with a stress fracture in his left
foot.
The Golden Eagles
out-hit Arziona State, 15-8.
ORU and the Sun Devils
play game two of the three-game series on Friday at 7 p.m.
--ORU--
