Dallas Baptist prevails over Oral Roberts
FAYETTEVILLE - Beaten 9-0 by the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles in Friday night’s first round of the Fayetteville Regional and trailing the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles 4-0 into third inning of Saturday afternoon’s loser’s bracket game at Baum Stadium, the Dallas Baptist Patriots hit four consecutive home runs in their 5-run third inning Saturday then tallied 10 runs in the fourth.
Those two innings sufficed for Dallas Baptist amassing an insurmountable lead eventually to thump ORU, 18-9.
DBU right fielder Devlin Granberg, 3 for 4 against Southern Miss on Friday night, went 4 for 5 Saturday. Granberg hit one of seven DBU home runs against ORU as did Luke Bandy, DBU’s second baseman from Bentonville. Bandy went 2 for 4 Saturday with two RBI and three runs scored. His home run from the 9-hole led off DBU’s 5-run/4-home runs third inning and singled leading off the 10-run fourth and evoked the afternoon’s biggest fans’ response with the Razorbacks not playing until Saturday
night.
“It’s always good to be at home,” Bandy said. “The support I had here was awesome and the friends and family I didn’t even know that were coming.”
Saturday’s slugfest eliminated the Tulsa-based Summit League champion Golden Eagles from the 4-team double-elimination tournament following ORU’s 10-2 loss Friday afternoon to Arkansas, the SEC West co-champion and top-seed host of the Fayetteville Regional. ORU, also the Summit League Tournament champion closes its season at 38-20.
Arkansas and second-seeded Conference USA champion Southern Miss were scheduled to play their winner’s bracket game Saturday night.
In the loser’s bracket final at 2 p.m. today, Dallas Baptist, 41-20 and the Missouri
Valley Conference runner-up, meets Saturday night’s loser between Arkansas and Southern Miss.
At 7 tonight, Saturday night’s winner meets Sunday night’s winner in the championship game. A winner take all championship game set for 6:30 p.m. Monday should the loser’s bracket surviver win tonight.
Southern Miss against Dallas Baptist Friday night advanced to Saturday night’s winner’s behind winning starter Nick Sandlin throwing a 4-hit shutout through seven complete innings.
USM catcher Cole Donaldson went 3 for 3 with a home run, two doubles and five RBI against Dallas Baptist Friday while USM first baseman Hunter Slater went 3 for 4 with a home run.
Arkansas junior right-hander Blaine Knight’s 3-hitter through eight complete innings augmented by Razorbacks left fielder Heston Kjerstad hitting two 2-run home runs and Arkansas second baseman Carson Shaddy and shortstop Jax Biggers hitting a home run each proved too much for ORU Friday afternoon.