First
Pitch
The Golden Eagles are prepared to face regional powerhouse
and No. 8 team in the nation, Wichita State on Tuesday night in
mid-week action. ORU enters the game 14-12, including a 12-1 mark
at J.L. Johnson Stadium while WSU rolls into Tulsa with a 24-6
record and 12-4 in road games.
The Coaches
Rob Walton is in his fourth season as ORU
head coach, with a record of 147-59 (.714). Not only was Walton the
2006 Mid-Con Coach of the Year for the second time in three
seasons, he also was awarded the 2006 ABCA Mid-West Region Coach of
the Year. Wichita State is coached by Gene Stephenson. Stephenson
is in his 30th season as the head coach of the Shockers and has
guided WSU to a 1,576-517-2 record.
Golden Eagles On
TV
For the first time this year, Golden Eagle baseball will
be on the air. Tuesday�€™s game will be tape
delayed and will be played in Tulsa on Cox Channel 3 and Cox
Channel 7 in Oklahoma City at 10 p.m. tonight. Bruce Haertl and
Shane Dennis will serve as analysts for the game.
The Series: ORU vs.
Wichita State
ORU and Wichita State have met 41 times so far with WSU
holding a 24-17 advantage. The Golden Eagles swept the Shockers
last year winning at home, 3-2, on April 11, then traveled to
Wichita and defeated WSU on April 12, 7-1. Under Rob Walton, ORU is
4-1 against Wichita State.
ORU Notes
The Golden Eagles enter tonight�€™s game
with a 14-12 record and have won seven-of-10 games. ORU is coming
off a series win against Bethune-Cookman this past weekend, winning
the rubber match on Sunday, 3-2, to claim the series. Last week,
the Golden Eagles defeated then No. 7 Arkansas, 5-3, in mid-week
action. As a team, ORU is batting .244 with Jake
Kahaulelio leading the team with a .309 average and six
doubles. Brian Van Kirk leads the squad with 20
RBI while Chad Rothford has a team-leading seven
home runs. ORU continues to improve from the mound as Chris
Ashman, Jeremy Hefner, and Chance
Chapman continue to get better. Chapman has a team-leading
0.95 ERA and four saves to go along with a perfect 3-0 record.
Hefner leads the teams in wins with four.
Wichita State
Notes
The Shockers are 24-6 and are ranked as high as No. 8 by
Collegiate Baseball. WSU is coming off a series win
against Bradley, winning two-of-three from their Missouri Valley
foe. Before their last loss to Bradley, the Shockers rolled off 10
straight wins. As a team, the Shockers are swinging the bat really
well, hitting at a .312 pace. Damon Sublett leads the squad with a
.383 average and is one of seven Shockers that are batting better
than .300. WSU spreads the wealth offensively with eight players
with at least 10 RBI and 12 players with at least one home run.
Travis Banwart has been impressive so far from the mound with a 6-2
record and a 1.08 ERA. Aaron Shafer (5-2) and Rob Musgrave (5-0)
also each have five wins.
To read
more about the notes click on the link below...
