TULSA, Okla. -- Oral Roberts led 3-0 after three innings Friday afternoon before Missouri State’s offense erupted for 10 runs over the next four frames, paced by a pair of home runs from Brent Seifert, as the Bears (12-9) claimed a 10-5 series-opening victory over ORU (8-8) at J.L. Johnson Stadium in Tulsa, Okla.

    Missouri State fell behind 3-0 after Nick Petree hit a batter with bases loaded in the first and two more runs scored on an error in the third, though both eventually became earned as the inning played out. Petree (2-0) would go on to pitch seven innings and strike out six for the win.

    Seifert slugged his first homer to dead center with one out in the fourth before the Bears took the lead for good with five runs in the next inning.

    Travis McComack led off the fifth with a single and runners were on the corners when ORU pitcher Alex Gonzalez (2-3) threw wildly to first on Derek Mattea’s sac bunt. Keenen Maddox drove in McComack with a fielder’s choice, and another error set up Kevin Medrano’s two-out, two-run single to gain a 4-3 lead. Seifert followed with his second home run, this time to right field, putting the Bears ahead by three.

    The MSU sixth began exactly as the fifth, with a McComack single and an error on Mattea’s sacrifice, and the Bears loaded the bases when Maddox laid down a sacrifice and McComack beat the pitcher’s throw to third. Missouri State then put down two more run-scoring bunts, with Aaron Conway’s going for a single and Spiker Helms getting the Bears’ fourth sacrifice of the game for an 8-4 score, before Seifert smashed a line drive that resulted in the inning-ending double play.

    Missouri State loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh, extending the lead to 10-4 with a Mattea RBI single and a run-scoring double play.

    ORU’s Chris Elder hit a two-out RBI double in the fifth to pull the Golden Eagles to a 6-4 score before the Bears scored the next four runs. The Golden Eagles threatened in the ninth as Clay Murphy tried to close the game out, putting the first three hitters on safely and letting a run score on a wild pitch for the 10-5 final.

    Missouri State had four sacrifice bunts in the game after entering the contest with three on the season.   

    The teams will complete the weekend series in Springfield with games at 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.