The Basics
Games 12
Oral Roberts (9-2) vs Wichita State (5-7)
Dates: March 8
Location: Tulsa, Okla. (J.L. Johnson Stadium)
Watch: ESPN+ | Listen: ORU Sports Network | Live Stats: StatBroadcast

WICHITA, Kan. – Winners of eight straight, the Oral Roberts baseball team opens a six-game road trip with a midweek matchup against Wichita State Tuesday afternoon in Wichita, Kansas. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. from Eck Stadium. 

Important Links
ORU Game Notes
Summit League Notes

Inside the Series
• The Golden Eagles and Shockers meet for the second time in seven days after ORU took the first matchup, 11-6, on March 1 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

• Joshua Cox, Jackson Loftin and Justin Quinn all homered and Andrew Roach struck out seven over four innings of work in the win.

• Tuesday's contest marks the 70th meeting all-time between ORU and Wichita State with the Shockers holding a 37-32 edge in the series.

• The Golden Eagles are making their first trip to Eck Stadium since 2019 and are 26-23 all-time on the road against Wichita State.

• Head Coach Ryan Folmar is 5-11 in his career against the Shockers.

Quick Hits     
• ORU is coming off a three-game sweep of Pacific over the weekend, which capped off a perfect 8-0 homestand for the Golden Eagles. In the series, ORU outscored the Tigers 36-5.

• Caleb Denny homered twice and drove in 10 runs, while the Golden Eagles got quality starts from Isaac Coffey and Ledgend Smith en route to the sweep.

• The ORU offense has been blistering hot during their eight-game win streak, racking up 89 runs, 36 extra-base hits, 10 steals and nine home runs. The 89 runs scored are the most during any eight-game stretch for ORU since 2010.

• On the mound, the Golden Eagle staff has registered a 3.12 ERA and 85 strikeouts during the win streak.

• Smith and Loftin helped the Golden Eagles cap off their perfect homestand with big performances as the two were named Summit League Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively. Smith went 2-0 with 17 strikeouts on the week, while Loftin launched three home runs and drove in nine runs to go along with a .500 batting average.

• In the Summit League, ORU's offense ranks first in batting average (.335), runs (99), hits (129), doubles (23), triples (8), home runs (10), RBIs (96), slugging percentage (.514) and on-base percentage (.434). On the mound, the Golden Eagles lead the conference in ERA (2.94), earned runs allowed (32), strikeouts (107) and batting average against (.219).

• Mac McCroskey continues to lead the conference in average (.500), hits (16) and OBP (.558). The redshirt junior also ranks fifth nationally in hits and seventh in hits per game (2.0). McCroskey is currently riding an 11-game hit streak.

• Loftin tops the league in home runs (3), stolen bases (6) and slugging percentage (.769). Quinn ranks first in the Summit League with three triples and third nationally. On the bump, Smith sits atop the league leaderboard in ERA (1.20) and strikeouts (21).   
 
• Nationally, ORU ranks sixth in triples (8), ninth in triples per game (0.73), ninth in batting average (.335) and 16th in OBP (.434)

• Roach will get the nod for the Golden Eagles Tuesday. On the season, the redshirt junior has totaled a 1.80 ERA in two starts to go along with eight strikeouts.

• ORU was selected as the unanimous favorite to retain their regular-season crown in the 2022 Summit League Preseason Coaches' poll, garnering 36 points and all six of the possible first-place votes they could attain.

• Coffey earned plenty of preseason accolades as the junior was selected as the Summit League Preseason Pitcher of the Year by both D1 Baseball and Perfect Game USA. The Goleta, California, native also garnered Preseason All-American honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and Collegiate Baseball. Cox was selected as the Summit League Player of the Year by both D1 Baseball and Perfect Game USA. Brooks Fowler garnered Preseason Summit League Freshman of the Year honors from D1 Baseball.

Scouting the Opponent
• Wichita State enters the midweek contest on a three-game win streak after picking up victories over Iowa, Washington State and Texas A&M over the weekend at the Frisco College Baseball Classic.
 
• As a team, the Shockers are batting .239 for the season, while the staff has pitched to a 6.06 ERA. Sawyre Thornhill leads the offense with a .354 batting average to go along with three home runs and 11 RBIs. Tuesday's starter, Cameron Bye, has yet to allow a run over 6.1 innings of work this season.
 
• In the 2022 American Athletic Conference Baseball Preseason Coaches' poll, the Shockers were picked to finish fourth after posting a 31-23 record in 2021. Pitcher Jace Kaminska and first-baseman Garrett Kocis were named to the Preseason All-Conference Team.

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