ORU scores 20 in rout of Centenary - Tulsa World (5-25-2007)

[ORUTerry]

ORU scores 20 in rout of Centenary

by Staff Reports

5/25/2007

Tulsa World Link

The Golden Eagles hit six home runs in tournament opener.

MACOMB, Ill. -- Chad Rothford said he and his Oral Roberts University teammates wanted to send a message to the rest of the Mid-Continent Conference in their Mid-Con Tournament opener Thursday.

That message was clear: "Bring more baseballs."

The top-seeded Golden Eagles slammed six home runs, including four in a seven-run second inning, in a 20-0 victory over No. 4-seeded Centenary.

"You know what? It is a statement win," said Rothford, who mashed two home runs -- including a third-inning grand slam. "We're here to win the tournament, but we just wanted to throw a statement on the first day."

The Golden Eagles (38-15) advance to Friday's 1:15 p.m. semifinal against Valparaiso. Centenary (26-30) resumes play in the losers bracket at 10 a.m.

ORU batted around three times in the game. Jake Kahaulelio hit a career-first two home runs, Adam Younger hit a three-run shot in the second inning, and Brendan Duffy, playing with a pulled abdominal muscle, hit his first home run of the season. The Golden Eagles also hit five doubles.

"We wanted to put a statement down that we're here to win the tournament," Rothford said, "and if they want to stop us, it's going to be tough."

It didn't hurt that the wind at Western Illinois' Alfred D. Boyer Stadium was gusting out to left field at up to 35 mph, and ORU took advantage.

The Gents entered with a team total of just 12 home runs this season, which ranks 273rd out of 283 Division I teams. ORU, which ranks 34th nationally, hit half that in three innings.

Golden Eagles senior Chance Chapman was on the mound, and, despite pitching into that fierce wind, he was at times unhittable. Chapman (8-1) needed just 90 pitches to finish seven innings, gave up six hits, two walks and struck out seven.

"I don't think I had my best stuff today," Chapman said. "I just tried to keep the ball down and let my defense work."

Centenary's first six batters combined to go 0-for-21 against Chapman -- significant in that during his last outing against the Gents, their only three hits came from leadoff hitter Teddy Saenz and pinch-hitter Gordon Murphy as Chapman struck out a school-record 19 batters. Saenz and Murphy were 0-for-6 Thursday.

"Chance did a good job getting some fastballs in and out of the zone," said ORU coach Rob Walton. "He had a good slider, but he made good fastball pitches when he needed to sometimes, so that was good to see."

Rothford, a switch-hitter, said he's been struggling offensively from the right side of the plate lately, so he figured he'd see a lot of changeups. That's exactly what he got from starter Brandon Fulenchek (8-5) and reliever Derek Bross; and he put Fulenchek's over the left-field fence and sent Bross' out to right.

Rothford said his solo shot in the second inning would normally have been caught, but the wind blew it out. But there was no doubt about his grand slam in the third.

"Right after I hit that one," he said, "I knew it was gone."

Kahaulelio said, "A lot of guys got lucky. I mean, normal pop flies are just flying out of here. It's a good day. In the scorebook, it looks like we just smashed the ball today, and we pretty much did. But some guys got a little lucky."

Chapman, meanwhile, had to battle against the elements. While the top of the Gents' lineup went hitless, the 7-8-9 hitters were 7-for-11 at the plate. He surrendered three straight two-out singles in the fifth but preserved the shutout. He also allowed baserunners to reach third in both the sixth and seventh innings, but ended each threat by getting a groundout.

"Throwing into the wind made my ball run a lot more than it usually does," Chapman said. "I had to try to compensate for that. That was a little tough on me."

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Mid-Con

Thursday

ORU 20, Centenary 0

Friday

ORU vs. Valpo

1:15 p.m.

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MID-CON SCHEDULE

At Macomb, Ill.

THURSDAY

Game 1: No. 1 Oral Roberts 20, No. 4 Centenary 0

Game 2: No. 3 Valparaiso 13, No. 2 W. Illinois 10

FRIDAY

Game 3: Centenary (26-30) vs. W. Illinois (31-25), 10 a.m.

Game 4: Oral Roberts (38-15) vs. Valparaiso (22-32), 1:15 p.m.

Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 4:30 p.m.

SATURDAY

Game 6: Championship, 11:30 a.m.

Game 7: if necessary, 3 p.m.

[Bogus Smith]

Some nice bulletin board material from Chad.  The thing is, no one on Valpo's team is able to make him take it back!  On paper, there should be no question about this game....but, then, that's why they play the game. 

With our only loss coming from Vaparaiso, I've got to believe our focus will be strong and that this will be the last time that we see them in baseball competition (WIU will win the nightcap).  Let's anticipate another Golden Eagles victory.

[vuperson]

Some nice bulletin board material from Chad.  The thing is, no one on Valpo's team is able to make him take it back!  On paper, there should be no question about this game....but, then, that's why they play the game. 

With our only loss coming from Valparaiso, I've got to believe our focus will be strong and that this will be the last time that we see them in baseball competition (WIU will win the nightcap).  Let's anticipate another Golden Eagles victory.

0-for-1 there, Bogus.

[Bogus Smith]

Right you are, vuperson!!  I guess we really hammered WIU's psyche when we came from behind in game #2 (of the four game series) last Friday.  I thought that WIU was tougher than that...shows you what I know about baseball players that are ready to go home for the summer (I know that we're not!).

Maybe the new coaches that WIU has signed for next season will get them more prepared for a better showing in the Tournament (something your team won't know anything about - either here or in the Horizon League)!