ORU Overtakes Pair of BYU Leads

TULSA -- Oral Roberts overtook BYU in the sixth and eighth innings Thursday afternoon to claim a 13-9 victory at J.L. Johnson Stadium.

Dodging thunderstorms and swirling winds that helped eight homeruns leave the yard, the Golden Eagles, now 14-6 overall, twice came from behind. The only two BYU homers gave the Cougars leads of 2-0 and 4-0.

BYU, now 12-13, rallied for five runs in the eighth to take a 9-8 lead, but ORU surged again in the bottom of that frame to take the lead for good.

Leadoff doubles by Jonathan Cluff and Steve Parker in the first and second inning preceded homers by BYU's Sean McNaughton and J.T. Musso to give the Cougars their first leads.

McNaughton led off the third with a single, but was picked off first just before Dan Vargas doubled. Parker led off with a double again in the fourth, but he suffered the same stranded-on-third-base fate as Vargas the previous inning.

Juan Martinez led off with a homer in the third to put ORU on the scoreboard, trailing 4-1. Kelly Minissale hit a two-out homer in the fifth for the Golden Eagles, closing the gap to 4-2.

Pinch hitter Michael Notaro hit the first pitch offered by reliever Blake Torgerson for a three-run homer to put ORU up 5-4 in the sixth. The Golden Eagles went up 6-4 in the seventh when Minissale doubled and ended up scoring on a wild pitch. Then a two-run homer by Ryan Groth put ORU up 8-4.

Golden Eagle starter Jerry Sullivan tallied a career-high 12 strikeouts before leaving the game in the in the seventh with one out and Musso on third. But a Cougar strikeout and a sliding catch in the outfield ended the inning.

BYU broke its five-inning drought of scoring when Parker drove in Vargas in the eighth to make the score, 8-5. With one out, Parker joined Ko on base as Bryce Ayoso replaced Thomas Bills at DH and ORU ace T.J. Kelly took the mound. Musso was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Then Kelly walked Brandon Relf, followed by a three-run double by Cluff to give BYU a 9-8 lead.

David Genao off BYU's new reliever in the eighth, Jared Miller. Miller struck out the next batter, then walked the next two, the first of which was Martinez who scored the go-ahead run when Minissale singled down the line.

The two teams meet in the second of three games on Friday night at 7 p.m., CDT.

Brigham Young Univ. at Oral Roberts
Mar 27, 2008 at Tulsa, Okla. (J.L. Johnson Stadium)
Brigham Young Univ. 9 (12-13)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
CLUFF, Jonathan rf.......  5  1  2  3   0  3  2  0   2
MCNAUGHTON, Sean lf......  5  1  2  2   0  1  2  0   2
VARGAS, Dan ss...........  5  1  2  0   0  1  1  4   0
WALTON, Kent cf..........  5  0  1  0   0  1  3  1   0
KO, Kasey 1b.............  4  1  0  0   1  2 10  0   1
PARKER, Steve 3b.........  4  2  3  1   1  1  0  1   0
BILLS, Thomas dh.........  3  0  0  0   0  3  0  0   0
 AYOSO, Bryce ph/dh......  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   2
MUSSO, J.T. c............  3  2  2  2   0  1  5  0   0
RELF, Brandon 2b.........  2  1  0  1   2  1  1  5   0
MUIR, Jordan p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 TORGERSON, Blake p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 MILLER, Jared p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 SHUTT, Justin p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 38  9 12  9   4 14 24 13   7
Oral Roberts 13 (14-6)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Duffy rf.................  4  1  2  0   1  0  1  0   0
Minissale cf.............  5  3  3  2   0  0  2  0   0
Petralli c...............  4  1  1  3   1  0 14  1   0
Van Kirk dh..............  4  2  2  0   1  0  0  0   2
Groth lf.................  3  1  1  2   1  1  2  0   0
 Mitchell lf.............  1  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
Murray 1b................  5  0  0  0   0  1  6  0   1
Genao 3b.................  2  2  2  1   2  0  0  0   0
Price, K. 2b.............  2  0  0  0   0  1  1  1   2
 Notaro ph...............  1  1  1  3   0  0  0  0   0
 Price, C. 2b............  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
Martinez ss..............  3  2  1  1   1  0  1  1   0
Sullivan p...............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
 Luna p..................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Kelly p.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Dunn p..................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Carroll p...............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Serrano p...............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 35 13 14 12   7  4 27  5   5
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ.. 220 000 050 -  9 12  0
Oral Roberts........ 001 013 35X - 13 14  2
-------------------------------------------
E - Groth(3); Genao(6). DP - BYU 2. LOB - BYU 7; Oral Roberts 5. 2B - CLUFF
2(9); VARGAS(13); PARKER 2(6); Minissale(2); Mitchell(1). HR -
MCNAUGHTON(4); MUSSO(1); Minissale(1); Petralli(2); Groth(4); Genao(2);
Notaro(1); Martinez(1). HBP - MUSSO. SB - Duffy(5). CS - VARGAS(3).
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
MUIR, Jordan........  5.2  6  4  4  4  3 21 25
TORGERSON, Blake....  1.1  3  4  4  1  0  7  8
MILLER, Jared.......  0.1  3  5  5  2  1  4  6
SHUTT, Justin.......  0.2  2  0  0  0  0  3  3
Oral Roberts           IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Sullivan............  6.1  8  4  4  1 12 26 27
Luna................  1.0  2  3  3  1  1  5  6
Kelly...............  0.1  1  2  2  1  0  2  4
Dunn................  1.0  1  0  0  0  1  4  4
Carroll.............  0.0  0  0  0  1  0  0  1
Serrano.............  0.1  0  0  0  0  0  1  1
Win - Dunn (1-0).  Loss - SHUTT (2-1).  Save - None.
WP - TORGERSON(1); Sullivan 3(4). HBP - by Kelly (MUSSO). PB - Petralli(2).
Umpires - HP: Joe Brown  1B: Jay Sanderson  3B: Josh Schepis
Start: 3:00   Time: 3:31   Attendance: 919
Carroll faced 1 batter in the 9th.
Game: ORU1
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 8/rf CLUFF; 15/lf MCNAUGHTON; 13/ss VARGAS; 9/cf
WALTON; 22/1b KO; 5/3b PARKER; 30/dh BILLS; 10/c MUSSO; 4/2b RELF; 12/p MUIR;
Oral Roberts starters: 12/rf Duffy; 2/cf Minissale; 28/c Petralli; 24/dh Van
Kirk; 25/lf Groth; 17/1b Murray; 13/3b Genao; 11/2b Price, K.; 5/ss Martinez;
15/p Sullivan;
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - CLUFF doubled to left field. CLUFF advanced to
third on a passed ball. MCNAUGHTON homered to center field, 2 RBI; CLUFF
scored. VARGAS struck out looking. WALTON flied out to cf. KO struck out
swinging. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Oral Roberts 1st - Duffy singled through the left side. Minissale
grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; Duffy out on the play. Petralli
walked. Van Kirk flied out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - PARKER doubled down the rf line. BILLS struck
out swinging. MUSSO homered down the lf line, 2 RBI; PARKER scored. RELF flied
out to lf. CLUFF struck out swinging. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Oral Roberts 2nd - Groth struck out swinging. Murray grounded out to ss.
Genao walked. Price, K. struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - MCNAUGHTON singled to center field. MCNAUGHTON
out at first p to 1b, picked off. VARGAS doubled down the lf line. WALTON
grounded out to 2b; VARGAS advanced to third. KO grounded out to 1b unassisted.
0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Oral Roberts 3rd - Martinez homered to center field, RBI. Duffy singled
to center field. Duffy stole second. Minissale grounded out to p. Petralli
flied out to cf. Van Kirk flied out to cf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - PARKER doubled down the rf line. BILLS struck
out swinging. MUSSO struck out looking. PARKER advanced to third on a wild
pitch. RELF walked. RELF advanced to second on a wild pitch. CLUFF struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Oral Roberts 4th - Groth flied out to lf. Murray struck out looking.
Genao singled to center field. Price, K. grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit,
0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - MCNAUGHTON grounded out to p. VARGAS reached
on an error by 3b. WALTON struck out looking; VARGAS out at second c to 2b,
caught stealing. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB.
Oral Roberts 5th - Martinez flied out to rf. Duffy flied out to lf.
Minissale homered to right field, RBI. Petralli grounded out to 2b. 1 run, 1
hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - KO struck out swinging. PARKER struck out
looking. BILLS struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Oral Roberts 6th - Van Kirk singled to center field. Groth walked; Van
Kirk advanced to second. Murray grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b; Groth
out on the play; Van Kirk advanced to third. Genao walked. Notaro pinch hit for
Price, K.. TORGERSON to p for MUIR. Notaro homered to center field, 3 RBI;
Genao scored; Van Kirk scored. Martinez grounded out to 2b. 3 runs, 2 hits,
0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - Price, C. to 2b for Notaro. MUSSO singled,
advanced to second on an error by lf. MUSSO advanced to third on a wild pitch.
RELF struck out swinging. Luna to p for Sullivan. CLUFF struck out looking.
MCNAUGHTON lined out to lf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Oral Roberts 7th - Duffy flied out to cf. Minissale doubled to left
center. Petralli grounded out to 2b; Minissale advanced to third. Van Kirk
walked; Minissale scored on a wild pitch. Groth homered to right field, 2 RBI;
Van Kirk scored. Murray grounded out to p. 3 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - Mitchell to lf for Groth. VARGAS singled to
shortstop. WALTON flied out to rf. KO walked; VARGAS advanced to second. PARKER
singled to left field, RBI; KO advanced to second; VARGAS scored. Kelly to p
for Luna. AYOSO pinch hit for BILLS. AYOSO grounded out to ss; PARKER advanced
to second; KO advanced to third. MUSSO hit by pitch. RELF walked, RBI; MUSSO
advanced to second; PARKER advanced to third; KO scored. CLUFF doubled to left
center, 3 RBI; RELF scored; MUSSO scored; PARKER scored. Dunn to p for Kelly.
MCNAUGHTON struck out swinging. 5 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Oral Roberts 8th - MILLER to p for TORGERSON. Genao homered to center
field, RBI. Price, C. struck out swinging. Martinez walked. Duffy walked;
Martinez advanced to second. Minissale singled down the lf line, RBI; Duffy
advanced to second; Martinez scored. Petralli homered to center field, 3 RBI;
Minissale scored; Duffy scored. SHUTT to p for MILLER. Van Kirk singled to
center field. Mitchell doubled to center field; Van Kirk advanced to third, out
at home cf to ss to c. Murray fouled out to 1b. 5 runs, 5 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 9th - VARGAS popped up to ss. WALTON singled to
right field. KO grounded out to 1b unassisted; WALTON advanced to second.
Carroll to p for Dunn. PARKER walked. Serrano to p for Carroll. AYOSO to dh.
AYOSO flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.