ORUTerry Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 Golden Eagles work out kinks; pitching, hitting are improved by JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer 4/5/2007 Oral Roberts may have straightened things out on the baseball diamond. Just in time for another acid test, this time at Long Beach State. Of the Dirtbags' 26 games so far this season, 23 were played against ranked opponents, and they are 11-11-1 in those contests. That includes series victories over Texas, USC and Arizona State, and narrow losses to Cal State Fullerton, Cal-Irvine, Rice and Wichita State. The same Wichita State team ORU dispatched 7-4 on Tuesday night at J.L. Johnson Stadium. The Golden Eagles are now 15-12 after a 2-5 start, with back-to-back victories over top-10 teams Arkansas and Wichita State. Their last non-conference weekend series starts Thursday at 8:30 p.m. at Long Beach State's Blair Field. "I like our club," ORU coach Rob Walton said. "Just offensively, we've really struggled. And early on, we struggled pitching-wise, although lately we've pitched better." Last week, in a 5-3 victory over Arkansas, ORU got 17 strikeouts from Chance Chapman, who was named Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week. Tuesday, the Golden Eagles got 4 2/3 scoreless innings of relief from freshman Jerry Sullivan. And while the Golden Eagles are pitching better lately, they've really shaped up at the plate. First baseman Chad Rothford, last year's offensive MVP, went into the Arkansas game batting just .198, but had three hits against the Razorbacks and had a rally-starting single against the Shockers. "You can definitely press. Obviously, he has been," Walton said. "Chad's a good player. I've said this before and you can print it: I wouldn't trade him for anybody else in the country at his position, regardless of whether he's struggled or not. It just happens to guys. Your maturity is what's going to allow you to get out of it. I think he's learned from it. "You've got to go through some adverse times to reap rewards. If you've been a guy that's had success for a while, sooner or later you're going to run into a little rough spot. How you handle it and how you come back from it is something you can appreciate and something you can learn from." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John E. Hoover 581-8384 john.hoover@tulsaworld.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COLLEGE BASEBALL Thursday OU at Baylor, 6:30 p.m. ORU at Long Beach State, 8:30 p.m. Friday OSU at Nebraska, 6:30 p.m. OU at Baylor, 6:30 p.m. ORU at Long Beach State, 8:30 p.m. Saturday OSU at Nebraska, 6:30 p.m. OU at Baylor, 2 p.m. ORU at Long Beach State, 3 p.m. Sunday OSU at Nebraska, 1 p.m. Note: ORU games are on KAKC am1300 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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