TULSA, Okla. – Grant Wood's three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning and four innings of dominant relief work from the Missouri State bullpen powered the Bears to a 6-3 victory over Oral Roberts Tuesday afternoon at J.L. Johnson Stadium.
With the score deadlocked at 3-3 and two Bears on base, Wood belted the first pitch he saw from ORU reliever Colten Weber over the wall in left-center for the game's decisive blow.
Hayden Juenger closed out the victory with a scoreless home half of the ninth, following a shutdown relief effort from
Forrest Barnes (1-0), who struck out five Golden Eagles in 3.0 hitless innings.
The Bears (4-4) rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to halt a three-game slide that included a string of 34-consecutive scoreless innings for the MSU offense. After ORU took advantage of a leadoff walk, a pair of singles and a Bears throwing error to plate a pair of runs in the second,
John Privitera started MSU's comeback with a solo shot to right to lead off the third, slicing the Golden Eagles' lead in half.
An ORU defensive miscue and a
Jack Duffy single set up another scoring chance for the Bears in the fifth. Wood drove in the first of his four runs on the day with a sac fly to center, bringing in
Logan Geha with the equalizing run. Next,
Drake Baldwin delivered a key two-out single to plate Duffy with the go-ahead tally for a 3-2 MSU lead.
The Golden Eagles (4-4) answered in their half of the fifth, taking advantage of a one-out walk and a two-base throwing error on Bears starting pitcher
Matt Russell on a failed pickoff attempt to even the score on Caleb Denny's sacrifice fly to left.
From there, Barnes seized control, starting his day with three-straight strikeouts in an 11-pitch sixth inning. The sophomore right-hander would retire the first seven hitters he faced before issuing a one-out walk to Denny in the eighth.
ORU received equally-effective relief work, as Sam Rainwater and Adam Scoggins combined to keep the Bears off the scoreboard through the seventh, and Matt Gaskins (0-1) struck out a pair in the eighth.
But Gaskins wobbled to start the ninth, issuing back-to-back walks to Privitera and Duffy to start the inning, prompting ORU to bring in Weber to face Wood.
Russell logged 5.0 innings in his second straight start, holding the Golden Eagles to three runs (two earned) on five hits while fanning six batters. Wood finished with four RBIs and extended his personal hit streak to eight-consecutive games to start his MSU career.
ORU starter Hunter Swift logged a strong start as well, allowing just one earned run (three total) on four hits with six strikeouts in his 5.0 frames. Ryan Cash led ORU at the plate with a 2-for-3 day at the plate.
Missouri State will continue its 12-game, season-opening road swing with a three-game series against Rice in Houston. Game one of the series is slated to get underway Friday (Feb. 28) at 6:30 p.m. at Reckling Park.
