ORU Travels To Wichita State For Mid-Week Action

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ORU Travels To Wichita State For Mid-Week Action

First Pitch

The Golden Eagles travel to Wichita on Tuesday to play Missouri Valley foe Wichita State in mid-week action. ORU won the first meeting between the two teams, 7-4, on April 3, in Tulsa. ORU is looking to win two games in a row on the road for the first time this season.

The Coaches

Rob Walton is in his fourth season as ORU head coach, with a record of 149-61 (.710). Not only was Walton the 2006 Mid-Con Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons, he also was awarded the 2006 ABCA Mid-West Region Coach of the Year. Wichita State is coached by Gene Stephenson. Stephenson is in his 30th season and has guided the Shockers to a 1,582-519-3 mark.

The Series: ORU vs. WSU

ORU and Wichita State have met on the diamond 42 times with the Shockers leading the overall series, 24-18. Under the guidance of head coach Rob Walton, the Golden Eagles are 2-1 against WSU in games played at Wichita. ORU has had WSU?s number as of late winning seven of the last 10 matchups.

ORU Notes

The Golden Eagles enter tonight?s game with a 16-14 record and have not played since April 7 at Long Beach State. ORU dropped two-of-three to the 49ers, winning the series finale, 3-2. ORU has struggled away from Tulsa with a 3-13 away mark but are looking to win two in a row on the road for the first time this season. As a team, ORU is batting .245 with Jake Kahaulelio leading the team with a .312 average and eight doubles. Brian Van Kirk leads the squad with 22 RBI while Chad Rothford has a team-leading seven home runs. ORU has a staff ERA of 4.10 with Chance Chapman posting a team-best 1.43 ERA in 14 appearances. Chapman leads the squad with 55 strikeouts and four saves while Jeremy Hefner has been the most consistent starter with a 4-1 record and a 3.92 ERA. Chris Ashman looks like he might have returned to his form of last season, pitching a complete game in a 3-2 win over No. 23 Long Beach State last time out.

Wichita State Notes

The Shockers are 30-8 and are coming off a three-game sweep of Missouri Valley Conference foe Southern Illinois this past weekend. Wichita State is ranked as high as No. 10 by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball. The Shockers are ranked No. 13 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and are 11th in the RPI by www.boydsworld.com. WSU can swing the bat, hitting .316 as a team with eight players having at least a .300 average. Nine Shockers have multi-home run totals with Matt Brown leading the group with six round-trippers. Multipositional star Damon Sublett (.387) leads the team with 31 RBI to go along with three home runs, three triples, and seven doubles. Opponents find it tough to score runs against the WSU due to a staff ERA of 2.61. Three different hurlers have five wins; Travis Banwart (6-2), Aaron Shafer (5-2), and Rob Musgrave (6-0), lead the group.