Big seventh inning sinks Jackrabbits

Thursday, May 21

Sioux Falls, S.D.

7:00 PM

South Dakota State University

33-22

Oral Roberts

40-14

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
South Dakota State	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	5	1
Oral Roberts	0	0	0	2	1	0	6	0	X	9	13	0

5/21/2015 11:28:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Top-seeded Oral Roberts broke a tie by scoring six times in the bottom of the seventh to defeat South Dakota State, 9-3, Thursday night at Sioux Falls Stadium and advance to the title game of the Summit League Baseball Championship.

The Golden Eagles improved to 40-14 overall, while second-seeded SDSU dropped to 33-22. The Jackrabbits will face Fort Wayne at 5 p.m. Friday, with the winner moving on to Saturday's championship.

Senior catcher Reid Clary gave the Jackrabbits a 2-0 lead in the top of the first with his fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot deep over the wall in left off Summit League Pitcher of the Year Xavier Altamirano.

SDSU starter Chris Anderson faced the minimum through the first three innings before running into trouble in the fourth. Anthony Sequeira knotted the game at 2-all with a two-run double down the third-base line that scored Matt Whatley and Derrian James. The Jackrabbits turned the second of three double plays on the evening to prevent further damage.

ORU gained the lead with an unearned run in the fifth. Chase Stafford plated the go-ahead run with a single that scored Logan Domenico, who led off the frame with an infield single. Once again, the Jackrabbits prevented a run with an inning-ending double play as center fielder Zach Coppola caught a fly ball and threw home to cut down an ORU runner at the plate.

After Altamirano left the game with an apparent injury with two outs in the third, reliever Sean Leary kept the Jackrabbits in check until the seventh. Clary led off with a triple past the diving center fielder and scored the tying run on Matt Johnson's single. SDSU appeared on the verge of regaining the lead, but the Golden Eagles returned the favor defensively as James caught Cody Sharrow's fly ball and threw Johnson out at home trying to score on the play.

The Golden Eagles sent 11 men to the plate against three different Jackrabbit pitchers in the fateful seventh inning. Dean Wilson dumped a double down the right-field line to drive in the go-ahead run off Anderson, and Matt Brandy and Audie Afenir each added two-run hits off SDSU reliever Andrew Clemen. Noah Cummings capped the scoring with an RBI double.

Hayden Holley pitched three scoreless innings to earn the victory in relief. Anderson took the loss, allowing seven runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts and two walks in 6 1/3 innings.

Clary tallied two of SDSU's five hits, while Oral Roberts recorded 13 hits. Four different Golden Eagle players notched two hits.

NOTES: Oral Roberts leads the season series, 4-3 … the Jackrabbits dropped to 12-10 in Summit League tournament games … Coppola recorded his 11^th outfield assist of the season … seven of the 10 runs SDSU has scored in its first two tournament games have been with two outs … the Jackrabbits tied a season high with three double plays … right-hander Ryan Froom (5-2, 2.80 ERA) is the scheduled starter for SDSU on Friday

ORAL ROBERTS 9, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 3
SDSU 200 000 100 3-5-1
ORU 000 210 60x 9-13-0
SDSU: Chris Anderson, Andrew Clemen (7), J.D. Moore (7), Blake Fieldelman (8) and Reid Clary. ORU: Xavier Altamirano, Sean Leary (3), Hayden Holley (7) and Matt Whatley.
W-Holley (4-0). L-Anderson (8-3). Save-none.
HR: SDSU-Reid Clary (4).