ORU Story from ncaasports.com

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Oral Roberts gears up for top-seeded Clemson

June 7, 2006

By Amy Farnum

NCAASports.com Staff Writer

Oral Roberts University is one of the hottest teams in the nation, but the Golden Eagles? started their season anything but blazing.

ORU is fresh off winning its first NCAA Regional since 1978, also the school?s only appearance in the College World Series, and earning the right to travel to top-seeded Clemson for the Golden Eagles? first NCAA Super Regional berth.

The Golden Eagles are 31-3 in their last 34 games after beginning the season with a sub-par 10-11 record, which included a seven-game losing streak in mid-March. Head coach Rob Walton tinkered with the pitching staff and things started to turn around. ORU took the season in a different direction, and reeled off victories over tough programs like Arkansas, Wichita State and Oklahoma State.

?It all comes down to starting pitching,? said Walton. ?If you have good starting pitching, then you?ll have a chance to win. Early on in the year, we weren?t real healthy, but we probably didn?t have guys in the right slots at the time. Making those few adjustments and getting a little healthier has helped us out.?

One of the moves Walton made after the team?s dismal beginning was inserting senior right-hander Chris Ashman into the starting lineup. Ashman, who transferred from the College of the Desert in 2005, did not pitch last year while recovering from arm surgery, only seeing action as a pinch runner in two games.

Ashman worked extremely hard to rehabilitate and continued to believe in himself despite being told by several people over the years he would never make it at the Division I level.

?I always knew I could do it,? said Ashman. ?Because of my size ? six-foot, 175 pounds ? I get overlooked a lot. It does build a fire in me to try to prove myself more than others. I kind of have the short man?s mentality. I have that ?never die? attitude.?

Walton made some adjustments to Ashman?s delivery to increase his velocity, and with hard work and determination, Ashman continued to improve.

?Pitchers and arm surgeries, sometimes they just don?t go right, and when he came back his velocity just wasn?t very good,? said Walton. For a year, he didn?t pitch because he struggled with some command and struggled with his velocity. We did make an adjustment in his arm angle and it freed up his shoulder a little bit. Then, his velocity started getting better, his quality strikes started getting better, and now here we are.?

In the beginning of this season, Ashman was strictly making relief appearances until Walton overhauled the pitching rotation. He started his first collegiate game on March 25 against San Francisco, holding the opponent to one run in 7.2 innings of a no-decision before the Golden Eagles lost the game in the ninth inning.

The native of Hemet, Calif., is 7-0 since becoming a starter, and is 10-1 overall with a 2.02 ERA this season. He garnered Mid-Continent Conference Pitcher and co-Player of the Year honors, as well as third-team on Collegiate Baseball?s Louisville Slugger All-American squad.

?Being a small guy, I?ve never thought I would play pro ball or anything,? said Ashman. ?My main goal was getting into college, going to a Division I school and becoming an All-American. That was my dream and it happened. I?m looking forward to see what happens next.?

Walton pitched for Oklahoma State from 1983-86, helping the Cowboys to four straight CWS appearances, and learned from first-hand experience that a team can come back from a mediocre start. Oklahoma State?s 1986 squad began the year 11-10 before putting together a 33-game winning streak and ending the season at the College World Series.

The Golden Eagles have a tough mountain to climb at Clemson, but they just are two wins from bringing their coach back to Omaha.

?I think they always knew they could win,? said Walton. ?I told them when they were 10-11, we still had a chance to do something special and go to Omaha. I knew if our defense and hitting didn?t change, and our starting pitching got better, then we could get on a roll and that?s exactly what happened.?

Oral Roberts travels to Clemson on Fri., June 9 for the first game of a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional. First pitch will be at 3 p.m. on June 9, and 4 p.m. on June 10. The two teams will play at 7 p.m. on June 11, if necessary.