ORUTerry Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 ORU is poised to clinch Link by JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer 5/17/2007 Eagles will earn a No. 1 Mid-Con seed with a win over WIU. All things being equal, this weekend is probably just what Oral Roberts baseball team wanted all along. The Golden Eagles close the regular season with a four-game series at Western Illinois starting Thursday. Five days later, the Leathernecks host the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium in Macomb. The ORU team will stay in Macomb and St. Louis during the trip. "I think it's good for them and good for us to have it right before the tournament," said ORU senior Jake Kahaulelio. "We'll be fresh. We'll know exactly how they play going into the tournament." Add the fact that it's a showdown of sorts between first-place and nine-time champ ORU (33-15 overall, 15-1 Mid-Con) and second-place and three-time runner-up Western Illinois (30-20, 11-5). "We've been looking forward to this series all year," Kahaulelio said. "You try not to look past all the other teams, but we've always kept up -- 'What's Western Illinois doing? How many games have they lost?' They're going to be wanting us. Now they've even got a chance. They've got something to play for." In order to win its first league title since 1984, Western Illinois would have to sweep the Golden Eagles. A tall order, considering ORU is 27-1 against the Leathernecks since 2000. "Yeah, they'd have to sweep us," ORU coach Rob Walton said. "No, I don't see that happening. But anything can happen." Either way, this weekend is a significant warmup for ORU; a monumental dress rehearsal. ORU can win its 10th regular-season title and secure the No. 1 seed in the tournament by winning just one game of the four, but that's hardly the goal. "To us, we know were going to win the series," senior Chad Rothford said. "So we already have our mind set on a 1-seed anyway. That's our mindset, were to be the 1-seed going into the tournament and hopefully win the tournament." Said Walton, "You have to win the conference tournament to move on, so its huge to be the 1-seed and line up your pitching the way you want to. This will be a very important weekend for us." Senior pitcher Chance Chapman said his team will be in Western Illinois crosshairs, but that should matter little. ORU is 159-11 against Mid-Con teams since 2000, and has won 26 of its 27 Mid-Con Tourney games. "(We want to) beat them good and beat them bad, and that's what we're going to do," Chapman said. "Then go to the tournament that next weekend and so the same thing." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John E. Hoover 581-8384 john.hoover@tulsaworld.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlue82 Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 Pretty strong words from Chad and Chance...and excellent "bulletin board" material for the WIU locker room. I'm really glad the Eagles put away the regular-season title today, as a little momentum could've carried the Leathernecks a long way through the weekend. Now it's time to go for the SWEEP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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