The Basics
Score: No. 16 Oral Roberts 4 – Wichita State 1
Records: No. 16 ORU (37-11), Wichita State (27-20)
Location: Wichita, Kan. (Eck Stadium)
Win: Dalton Patten (2-1) | Loss: Robert Cranz (1-2) | Save: Cade Denton (11)
 
WICHITA, Kan. – Behind a strong pitching performance, the No. 16 Oral Roberts baseball team collected its ninth straight win with a 4-1 victory at Wichita State in midweek action Tuesday night from Eck Stadium. 

With the win, the Golden Eagles, who are 27-3 in their last 30 contests, swept the season series against the Shockers.

Dalton Patten picked up the win in relief after tossing 1.1 scoreless innings, while closer Cade Denton earned his 11th save of the year with a clean ninth. Left-hander Jacob Widener continued his dominant stretch on the bump with 2.2 scoreless frames to go along with three strikeouts. Over his last 22.2 innings, Widener has struck out 36 batters and allowed only three runs.

Mac McCroskey led the Golden Eagle offense with a 2-for-3 performance at the dish to go along with a game-best two RBI. Blaze Brothers joined McCroskey with a multi-hit performance as the redshirt senior went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Center fielder Jonah Cox pushed his hit streak to 32 games and scored a game-high two runs.

The Shockers struck first in the opening frame on a sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 advantage. Due to a Golden Eagle error in the inning, the run was unearned. 

After Cox roped a double down the left-field line and advanced to third on an error to open the fourth, McCroskey plated the junior with an RBI single through the right side to even the score. 

Wichita State threatened in the fifth as the first two batters of the frame reached safely, forcing ORU to turn to Patten out of the bullpen. The junior retired the next three Shockers to keep the game tied at 1-1.

In the sixth, Matt Hogan put ORU on top, 2-1, with an RBI triple to right-center that brought around Cox, who reached on a walk. The redshirt senior later came around to score on a McCroskey sac fly as the Golden Eagle lead grew to 3-1. 

Brothers provided insurance in the ninth with an RBI double to left-center. In the bottom half of the frame, Denton retired the Shockers in order to close out the 4-1 victory.

Inside the Box Score
- ORU totaled nine hits in the win.
- Brothers and McCroskey recorded multi-hit performances.
- McCroskey plated a game-best two RBI.
- Drew Stahl drew a game-high two walks.
- Cox scored two runs to lead all players.
- Hogan logged his sixth triple of the season in the sixth. 
- As a staff, ORU struck out 10 Shockers.
- Joshua Caravalho got the start and struck out five over four innings of work.
- Patten, Widener and Denton combined for five scoreless frames, five strikeouts and allowed only one hit.

Notes
- Tuesday's midweek marked the 76th meeting all-time between the two clubs. 
- With the win, ORU swept the season series against the Shockers and is now 35-41 all-time in the series. 
- The Golden Eagles have now won a season-best nine straight contests and 27 of their last 30. 
- ORU has also won 10 straight road contests.
- Cox pushed his hitting streak to 32 games and has now recorded a hit in 47 of the 48 contests this season. 
- Jake McMurray extended his hit streak to 10 straight games and made his 130th consecutive start.
- The senior also earned the 200th start of his Golden Eagle career in the win.
- Hogan has now reached base safely in 20 straight games. 
- Breeze stretched his on-base streak to 14 consecutive games. 
- McCroskey tallied his 18th multi-hit performance of the season, while Brothers recorded his 16th.

Up Next
The Golden Eagles close out their 2023 home slate with a three-game set against Southern Indiana starting Friday at 6 p.m. from J.L. Johnson Stadium.

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