DBU revs up offense, beats ORU
DALLAS BAPTIST 18, ORAL ROBERTS 9
FAYETTEVILLE — Dallas Baptist had gone 11 innings of the NCAA Fayetteville Regional without scoring a run.
Then Luke Bandy got DBU’s offense going on the way to an
18-9 victory over Oral Roberts on Saturday at
Baum Stadium.
Dallas Baptist (4120) ended ORU’s season and stayed alive to play at 2 p.m. today against the loser of the Arkansas-Southern Miss game.
After losing to Southern Miss 9-0 on Friday night, the Patriots trailed the Golden Eagles 4-0 going into the bottom of the third inning.
Bandy, a sophomore from Bentonville who played at Providence Academy, proved to be an offensive catalyst when he hit a leadoff home run off ORU starting pitcher Miguel Ausua.
“Yesterday’s game was not a real good one for us, and then the way today’s game started, I think the guys were starting to press,” Dallas Baptist Coach Dan Heefner said. “When Luke got that home run, it was a huge relief for our guys.
“They were able to take a breath and kind of relax a little bit — ‘Oh yeah, we can still score.’ That for sure was the one that got the monkey off our backs and allowed the guys to be themselves.”
Dallas Baptist hit three more home runs in the third inning to take a 5-4 lead, then scored 10 runs in the fourth to make it 15-4.
Bandy started the fourth-inning rally, too, with a leadoff single. He also walked in the inning and scored two runs.
“I wasn’t trying to do too much,” Bandy said of hitting his fourth home run of the season. “I was just trying to stay with my approach and get a pitch that I could drive.
“Fortunately, I hit it out, got it to the next guy. We just rolled from there.”
Bandy, batting ninth, finished 2 for 4 with 2 runs batted in and 2 runs. He also had a stolen base.
“I thought Bandy was really good,” ORU Coach Ryan Folmar said. “The home run he hit was a big momentum swing for them.”
Bandy had missed the previous four games after injuring
his left hand diving for a ball in the outfield against Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
“It was just good to be back,” he said. “It’s always good to be at home. The support I have here is awesome. I had a lot of family and friends out here I didn’t even know were coming. It was huge.”
Saturday was Bandy’s 41st start of the season, but only his fourth at second base. He looked comfortable at second base with a diving stop to start a double play in the first inning.
Bandy’s other starts were in the outfield. He moved from second base to right field in the seventh inning.
“He’s an unbelievable athlete,” Heefner said. “He can play the infield, and he can really run it down in the outfield as well.”