STRONG START: ORU baseball opens Summit League conference play with win

Mike Tupa, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise
·2 min read

Oral Roberts University took one giant step forward Thursday toward a Summit League baseball title.

The Golden Eagles pounced all over the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State, 9-4, in an opening round game of the conference tournament being hosted by ORU.

ORU (36-18) surged to a 6-0 lead in the opening two innings and repelled every South Dakota State attempt to mount a serious rally.

Neither of the Bartlesville High graduates on the Golden Eagle roster — A.J. Archambo and Jakob Hall — saw action in the game.

Earlier this week, Archambo earned his first All-Summit League recognition by being named as a utility player to the First Team.

Isaac Coffey pitched most the way for ORU (7 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 9 Ks).

Jake McMurray doubled and belted a solo homer for ORU.

In fact, he blasted a leadoff dinger in the first inning to open the Golden Eagles’ scoring.

Jackson Loftin added two hits (one double) and two RBIs.

ORU met Omaha on Friday evening. The game was played before the newspaper deadline.

Jakob Hall makes a play during his Bartlesville High years.
Jakob Hall makes a play during his Bartlesville High years.

Omaha had upset top seeded North Dakota State, 10-2, in Thursday’s other opener.

Originally the tourney was slated to finish up Saturday. But, play had to be pushed back a day due to rain. How that changed the weekend schedule was not apparent.

For the season, Archambo, a senior, is batting .364 in 36 appearances (28 starts). He has lashed six doubles and three homers, driven in 20 runs and scored 14 times.

He ranks second in batting on the team for players with at least 23 starts and is seventh in extra-base hits.

As a pitcher (16 appearances, seven starts), Archambo has achieved a 5-2 record with a 5.88 earned run average in 52 innings. He has racked up 44 strikeouts and given up only 15 walks.

Hall — who is a true freshman — has been a pitcher only (14 appearances, one start). He has thrown 24.2 innings, earned a 2-0 record, whiffed 33 batters, allowed nine walks and forged a 6.20 ERA.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Focus on Oral Roberts baseball postseason play