BB: Grand Slam Moves Golden Eagles Past TCU
June 5th, 2011FORT WORTH - Oral Roberts left fielder Chris Elder broke open a
tight game Sunday with a sixth-inning grand slam, and the fourth-seeded
Golden Eagles kept their season alive with an 8-4 victory over top seed
TCU in Game 5 of the NCAA Fort Regional at Lupton Stadium.
ORU
(38-21) advanced to the Sunday night’s regional championship matchup
against third-seeded Dallas Baptist, which as the undefeated team must
be beaten twice. If the Golden Eagles earn the win Sunday, the two teams
will play again on Monday at 7 p.m.
TCU (43-19) was eliminated
from regional play with Sunday’s loss to ORU. The Frogs suffered their
first setback of the weekend Saturday at the hands of DBU, 3-2.
ORU
was clinging to a 4-3 lead when it took to the plate in the bottom of
the sixth inning. Elder provided his squad with a big cushion, driving a
1-2 pitch from TCU reliever
Trent Appleby
over the right field fence. Second baseman Spencer Barnett, center
fielder Joey Winiecki and right fielder Nick Baligod each scored on
Elder’s blast, which marked only the squad’s second grand slam of the
season.
TCU had cut the ORU lead to only one run merely a half inning earlier on a double by designated hitter
Zac Jordan that drove in shortstop
Taylor Featherston, who led off the inning with a walk.
ORU’s
Joe Spring (5-1) earned the victory in relief of starter Bryce Smolen,
who allowed two runs in 2 1/3 innings. Spring threw 2 2/3 scoreless
innings, allowing only one hit, but he was only piece of a solid bullpen
performance by ORU. Spring and fellow middle relievers Sean Johnson,
Dan Martony and Lars Liguori combined to throw six innings, allowing
only four hits and one run. Closer Matt Rush entered the game with one
out in the ninth and shut the door after allowing an RBI double to TCU
third baseman
Jantzen Witte.
TCU reliever Eric Miller (7-7) took the loss in relief of starter
Kyle Winkler, who exited the game after recording two outs in the first inning due to injury
Elder’s
hit proved to be the big offensive blow for ORU, which finished with 12
hits. All but one of the squad’s starters had at least one hit,
including designated hitter Brandon King, who went 3-for-3 while adding a
walk. Baligod (2-for-4) and catcher Bennett Pickar (2-for-3) also
recorded multiple-hit days.
Witte led TCU’s offensive attack by going 3-for-5 at the plate, while Jordan went 2-for-4.
The
Frogs moved on top early in the contest with a pair of runs in the
third inning. Witte put the squad on the scoreboard by singling in
second baseman
Jerome Pena,
who trotted home from second after a misplay in left field by Elder.
Center fielder Kyle Von Tungelin later scored from third on a one-out
sacrifice fly by first baseman
Joe Weik.
The
lead would not last long, as ORU responded with four runs in the bottom
of the third. Rickar and Baligod led off the inning with singles
sandwiched around a groundout by Winiecki, then Elder loaded the bases
by reaching first on a fielding error by
Erik Miller.
King and shortstop Cam Schiller both recorded RBI singles to bring the
Golden Eagles back to even before first baseman Jared Schlehuber gave
them the lead for good with a sac fly to right. Bennett then piled on
the fourth run for ORU with another RBI single.
Article Courtesy TCU Athletics