NCAA: Oregon Overcomes 8-Run Deficit Vs. Oral Roberts

Staff Reports
World Baseball Network

Oregon 9, Oral Roberts 8 – Eugene, Ore.

After an inning and a half, Oral Roberts, out to an 8-0 lead, looked like they’d cruise to victory in game one of their NCAA Super Regional at Oregon.

But the Ducks chipped away at the lead, scoring two runs in the bottom of the second, three in the four, one in the sixth, and another pair in the seventh before winning the game 9-8 on Drew Cowley’s RBI single that scored Rikuu Nishida to cap the largest come-from-behind win in the history of the NCAA Super Regionals. 

Oral Roberts jumped out to an 8-0 lead behind a three-run homer by Matt Hogan and a two-RBI single by Jake McMurray in the second frame, but the eight runs the Golden Eagles scored in the second inning were all they’d get.

In the third inning, Oregon got solo homers from Jacob Walsh and Bennett Thompson to cut the lead to 8-2. An inning later, Thompson blasted a three-run homer to left field that scored Drew Smith and Tanner Smith to make it an 8-5 ballgame.

In the seventh inning, RBI singles from Drew Cowley and Tanner Smith tied the game at eight, before Cowley’s single sent Ducks fans home happy in the ninth.

Four Oregon relievers allowed four hits over the final 6.1 innings, shutting out the Golden Eagles.

Duke 5, Virginia 4 – Charlottesville, Va.

Five Duke pitchers spread eight hits over nine innings and held a dangerous Virginia lineup to just four runs as the Blue Devils topped the Cavaliers 5-4 in the first game of their Super Regional series in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Damon Lux hit a two-run homer in the top of the third to get Duke out to a 2-0 lead. They added another run in the fifth when Andrew Fischer scored on a throwing error by Virginia’s Jake Gelof. 

The Cavaliers manufactured three runs in the bottom of the sixth off an RBI single by Kyle Teel that scored Gelof, an RBI groundout by Anthony Stephan that scored Teel, and a sac fly by Henry Godbout that scored Ethan Anderson to give Virginia a 4-3 lead.

Duke’s Tyler Albright drove in Jay Beshears with a fielder’s choice in the eighth inning, and Luke Storm’s RBI single drove in Roman DiGiacomo for the winning run.

TCU 4, Indiana State 1 – Fort Worth, Texas

A pair of third inning homers hopped the TCU Horned Frogs past Indiana State in the first game of their NCAA Super Regional in Fort Worth, Texas Friday afternoon.

Austin Davis launched a solo homer to left field to lead off the top of the third and give TCU a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, with two outs and Karson Bowen on first, Cole Fontanelle homered to center to give TCU a 3-0 lead.

Fontanelle scored on a sac fly in the top of the ninth by Kurtis Byrne to give TCU a 3-0 lead.

 Keegan Watson homered for Indiana State in the bottom of the ninth for the Sycamores only run of the game. 

Kole Klecker went seven innings, allowing three hits, a walk, and striking out nine to earn the win for the Horned Frogs.

Florida 5, South Carolina 4 – Gainesville, Fla.

After a two-and-a-half hour weather delay, the Florida Gators took game one of their NCAA Super Regional against South Carolina 5-4 behind two RBI days from Josh Rivera and Tyler Shelnut.

Fifth-year senior Will McGillis hit two solo home runs, one in the first and another in the top of the ninth for South Carolina.

Brandon Sproat scattered nine hits and two walks across six innings of work, allowing three runs and striking out seven for Florida to earn the win.