richieoru Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Eagles moving on By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer 6/5/2006 ORU defeats OSU, now going to first super regional FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- In the past 28 years, Oral Roberts University's baseball team has played in 1,740 games without going beyond an NCAA regional. That streak is now over. "It's about time," said first baseman Chad Rothford. ORU qualified for its first-ever super regional on Sunday night with a decisive 9-2 victory over 21st-ranked and top-seeded Oklahoma State in the championship game of the Fayetteville Regional. Although the Golden Eagles have been a postseason regular, ORU's last regional crown came in 1978, when Larry Cochell's Titans won the Midwest Regional at J.L. Johnson Stadium and made it to the College World Series. Since then, five head coaches, 23 All-Americans and hundreds of players have sat in the ORU dugout without moving on. "This is for them," Rothford said. "The '78 team experienced something we all want to, and they haven't since then. We're trying to bring that to the alumni." When second baseman Jake Kahaulelio's off-balance throw settled into Rothford's glove for the final out, the ORU dugout poured onto the field and a player dogpile amassed near the pitcher's mound. "It's been a long time since I felt that," said shortstop Tim Torres. "I'm at the bottom of the pile and I can't breathe. It's the best feeling in the world. You know it'll be over soon enough, so you just tough it out." The NCAA field expanded to 64 teams in 1999, and the format changed from eight six-team regionals to 16 four-team regionals. Every year ORU wins the Mid-Continent Conference regular-season and tournament title and makes it into a regional, but has never been to a best-of-3 super regional. "I know the past and I know all the alumni and I've talked to them and they're all rooting for us," said Torres. "They're loving it right now." Rothford was named tournament MVP after his second straight big night at Baum Stadium. A crowd of 1,227 watched Rothford mash a three-run opposite-field home run in the eighth inning as ORU pulled away. The Golden Eagles beat OSU for the fourth time this season -- that's never happened before -- and went 6-0 against OSU and Arkansas in 2006. "I thought we had a special club from the very beginning, from the day we got on campus," said ORU coach Rob Walton. "It began to click and we're playing very well right now." ORU won its 11th in a row to improve to 41-14 and advances to play Clemson, the No. 1 national seed this year, at next weekends Clemson Super Regional. Clemson ended ORUs season last year in South Carolina. ORU has won 22 of its last 23 and 31 of 34. Oklahoma State concludes its season with a 41-20 record. "They're a really good club," said OSU coach Frank Anderson. "I think fundamentally they're very sound, they do a good job pitching and Rob does an outstanding job." ORU starter Chance Chapman beat OSU on May 16 in Stillwater with seven scoreless innings in just his second career start. But after leaving in the fourth inning with two runs in, the bases loaded and no out, Chapman wasn't as sharp this time. But his replacement was. Erik Crichton (5-0) cleaned up Chapman's mess with a strikeout and controversial double play groundout, got himself out of trouble with three ground balls in the fifth and had little trouble the rest of the way. It was his longest outing in 17 relief appearances this season. "I jumped a head of a lot of batters, and that gives me a chance to go to my slider," Crichton said. "I was able to keep them off balance with that." Said Walton, "His slider was very, very good tonight. He's got a great fastball; he's been touching 93 the last couple weeks. When he's got command of his fastball and his slider's going, he's very tough." ORU took a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning, scoring all three runs with two out on RBI hits by Andy Bouchie and Carter McQuigg. An RBI double by Kahaulelio made it 4-0 in the fourth. Oklahoma State responded in the bottom of the fourth by loading the bases with no out. An RBI single by Shelby Ford and another by Jordy Mercer made it 4-2. But after Crichton came in and struck out Matt Clarkson, Corey Brown hit into a double play that Anderson argued and, later, said killed his team's momentum. "I thought that was a big part of the game right there," Anderson said. "It's a huge momentum shift. . . . It was a huge call and I think it's a bad rule." Crichton never let a runner past second base the rest of the way, and ORU had finally won a regional. "Best feeling in the world," Torres said. "I've waited my whole life for this feeling." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 ...pic from article above ...video highlights for out-of-towners like me that couldn't see the game from channel 9 okc/channel 6 tulsa wrap up of regional ....after seeing the contriversial play i can see why cowboy fans are upset.... good quotes from rothford and short interview w/coach walton http://newsok.com/video/1863071/ Fayetteville Regional: What pressure? By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer 6/5/2006 View in Print (PDF) Format Anyone thinking before the Fayetteville Regional that ORU might have a problem with the big-game atmosphere would be incorrect. The perception comes from playing in the Mid-Continent Conference, which ORU has dominated for nine years in front of crowds that might embarrass rec-league softball teams. But coach Rob Walton's nonconference scheduling philosophy -- which has helped ORU get a 2-seed and two 3-seeds the last three years -- toughens his team. ORU has played 24 games at Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, Florida State, Miami, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tulane and Wichita State, and has also been in regionals at Texas and Clemson. In those games, ORU has won 14 times. "The last two years, going to Miami, going to Florida State, going to OSU, it's helped our guys some of these environments," Walton said. Okie Hogs: Asked to name the best player from Oklahoma he ever coached, former Razorback coach Norm DeBriyn hedged. "I wouldn't want to pinpoint one, but you look at Tim Deitz (Tulsa) and Phil Stidham (Tulsa)," DeBriyn said of two of his top pitchers. "Stidham was a two-time All-American, All-Southwest Conference. "And Johnny Ray (Chouteau) played in the big leagues for a long time. Tremendous competitor and just a tremendous competitor and had a short stroke. He was one of those guys that just got better as time went on." DeBriyn recalled having lunch once with Arkansas natives Larry Lacewell (then at OU) and Jimmy Johnson (then at OSU), and Lacewell told DeBriyn he'd never get the Oklahoma athlete of the year this time. "It was Rob Coughman (Tulsa)," DeBriyn said, "and we ended up getting him." Common ground: The biggest cheer during Sunday's elimination game between Oklahoma State and Arkansas occurred when the announcement was made that No. 3 national seed Texas had been eliminated. Both Razorback and Cowboy fans were thrilled at the news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttowncount Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Great video link! That's what I'd been needing to see. Thanks for posting it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vcboy2000 Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Thanks for the link, and the picture which is my new sig! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogus Smith Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 ....after seeing the contriversial play i can see why cowboy fans are upset.... Actually, it's nice to get a "big school" break once in a while. Usually we're the ones that feel like we're on the short end of the stick on the calls and always having our momentum getting broken. I like the feeling of getting a nice break or two and having THEIR coach having to fight for the calls every now-and-then. Who knows....we may be on the short end of the stick next weekend..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 It's our Christian world view. We want everything to be fair, honest and above board. Sometimes I'll sit with some of my buddies at basketball games who don't like it when a ref will make an errant call that goes ORU's way. I tell 'me, "Give me a break!" We have PLENTY of calls going against us that shouldn't; why not consider calls like those, and the one at second base last night, makeup calls, that re-establish balance and order to the world. You were there at the Championship game in Texas a couple years back, weren't you, Bogus? Wouldn't you say that we were deserving of a little balance after the robbery that occurred in that game? You KNOW we'll be on the short end more than once next weekend!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuownsusc4ever Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 come on man. i was at the clemson regional this weekend and we got screwed on a couple bad calls, no way there going to help out either team on purpose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 I don't mean that they will make bad calls on purpose, cuownsusc4ever. But we'll be playing the number one seed in the country, in front of their home crowd, and the umps will be highly "motivated" to make the "right" call. I'm not saying there is necessarily any purposeful favoritism taking place, it's just the way things work. All things considered, I thought that the umps did a good job this weekend; we just came out with an unexpected beneficial call or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuownsusc4ever Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 I see where that thought comes from and i guess that could happen, i would hope that umps at this level could be unbiased...but they certainly gave us absolutely no help last night against msu last night our fans were going crazy about it too..but who know. congradulations on yall's first regional victory, i believe that both our teams have one 22 out of the last 23 games (im not positive i know clemson has though)that pretty impressive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 Here is the story from the Mid-Con website: http://www.mid-con.com/release.asp?RELEASE_ID=4009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 Story from the Daily Oklahoman: Mon June 5, 2006 ORU wins again, ends OSU?s year By John Helsley The Oklahoman FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Oklahoma State?s baseball season eventually boiled down to this: the Cowboys couldn?t handle Oral Roberts. Show Video Fayetteville Regional Notebook The Golden Eagles beat OSU again Sunday night, for the second time at the Fayetteville Regional and the fourth time overall. The latest, 9-2 before 1,227 at Baum Stadium, ended the Cowboys? season and extended ORU?s - sending the Golden Eagles to the program?s first Super Regional appearance. ?They?re just a good ball club,? OSU second baseman Shelby Ford said. ?You can?t say anything other than that. OSU, which knocked out host Arkansas earlier Sunday to stay alive, came up empty in too many clutch at-bats against ORU. The Cowboys stranded nine runners through the first six innings, when the Golden Eagles? lead was 4-2. In the fourth, OSU had the bases loaded with nobody out and two runs in, before a strikeout and a controversial double play halted the rally. ?We had some opportunities where we could have had a momentum shift,? Cowboys coach Frank Anderson said. ?We just didn?t get it.? Generally considered No. 3 in the state pecking order of college baseball clubs, ORU became the first Oklahoma school to make a super regional since the Cowboys passed through Waco en route to the College World Series in 1999. Maybe it?s time to reassess the Golden Eagles. While unranked, they?ve won 31 of their last 34, stand 8-2 against Top 25 teams and own 10 wins against NCAA Tournament teams. Three years in a row, the Golden Eagles have played for a regional championship, now winning one. ORU took a 3-0 lead in the third inning on three hits, a walk and an error by Cowboys shortstop Jordy Mercer that cleared the way for two unearned runs. A run-scoring double by second baseman Jake Kahaulelio made it 4-0 in the fourth. The Cowboys were battling back in their half of the fourth, getting back-to-back singles by Deik Scram and Keanon Simon, before ORU center fielder Kelly Minissale dropped an Adam Carr fly ball, loading the bases. Singles by Shelby Ford and Jordy Mercer made it 4-2. But after Matt Clarkson struck out, Corey Brown bounced a high hopper to Kahaulelio at second, who forced Mercer, with the throw to first late, allowing Carr to score. But second base umpire Rich Padilla ruled a double play to end the inning, saying Mercer interfered with shortstop Tim Torres. ?(Padilla) said it was a safety rule,? said Anderson, carefully choosing his words. ?That?s the way it reads in the book. But I thought that was a big part of the game right there, because it?s a huge momentum shift. ?I thought it was a huge call. It?s a bad rule. It allows those type of calls to become a subjective deal.? For OSU, picked sixth in the Big 12 in the preseason, the season had its successes. The Cowboys closed strong, finishing second in the Big 12 for the program?s highest mark as a member of the conference. Then they were the No. 1 regional seed. ?I thought this season went exceptionally well,? Carr said. ?This is one of the best teams I?ve been a part of.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogus Smith Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 It's our Christian world view. We want everything to be fair, honest and above board. Sometimes I'll sit with some of my buddies at basketball games who don't like it when a ref will make an errant call that goes ORU's way. I tell 'em, "Give me a break!" We have PLENTY of calls going against us that shouldn't; why not consider calls like those, and the one at second base last night, makeup calls, that re-establish balance and order to the world. You were there at the Championship game in Texas a couple years back, weren't you, Bogus? Wouldn't you say that we were deserving of a little balance after the robbery that occurred in that game? You KNOW we'll be on the short end more than once next weekend!! I would say that this was a little revenge for the Texas debacle, but don't know if we would have kept Texas from winning two games at the end, even if we had won that first game. That's the thing about the game of baseball...you just don't know what will happen when you take away the momentum that a certain play(s) can affect an outcome. In any event, I thought it was really neat that we got a really "big school" break last night. I felt like we were starting to get some respect as an elite baselball program and that we deserved to belong on the field finally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 Good conclusion, Bogus. I think you're right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/college/ http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/college/news/261614.html Fayetteville Regional Oklahoma State 6, Arkansas 5 (Arkansas eliminated) Oral Roberts 9, Oklahoma State 2 (Oklahoma State eliminated; Oral Roberts wins regional) ? Oral Roberts jumped to an early lead in the third inning and never looked back in a 9-2 victory over Oklahoma State. The Golden Eagles swept through the regional undefeated. Chad Rothford homered for Oral Roberts, and right fielder Brendan Duffy and catcher Andy Bouchie went 3-for-5 in the win. Oklahoma State had defeated Arkansas 6-5 Sunday in a come-from-behind victory, led by a five-run sixth inning that included home runs from Corey Brown and Adam Carr. Cowboy left fielder Ty Wright secured the win with a running catch at the wall in the bottom of the ninth that robbed Brian Walker of an extra-base hit that could have scored the tying run. Oral Roberts will face Clemson in next weekend's super-regional, the school's first super-regional appearance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.