Box Score

WICHITA - An awkward power outage and a bottom of the ninth Shocker home run couldn't hold off the visiting Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts on Tuesday night, as ORU hit their way to a 6-4 victory at Eck Stadium.

Junior Preston Springer's ninth bomb of the season and a 2-for-3 performance from freshman Erik Harbutz paced the Shocker (29-17) offense. The Golden Eagles (26-18) were led by a 4-for-5 day from center fielder Joey Winiecki as they outhit the Shocks 11-7.

A groundout double play allowed the first Shocker run to score when sophomore shortstop Tyler Grimes scored to give the Shockers a short-lived, 1-0 lead.

ORU starter Seth Furmanek doubled as the Golden Eagle clean-up hitter on Tuesday. He sent a long ball to left-center field to tie the game as soon as he had the chance.

Two-straight walks put senior outfielder Bret Bascue and freshman Erik Harbutz on with nobody out in the bottom of the third to chase reliever Alec Smith from the game before he recorded an out. However, fellow reliever Jeff Burleson did work and left them both stranded.

The Golden Eagles took advantage in their next at bat when first baseman P.J. Sequeira's RBI double gave the visitors the 2-1 edge. ORU threatened again when a walk loaded the bases in the top of the fifth. Shocker reliever Grant Muncrief coaxed a groundout to leave the bags packed.

Oral Roberts did not make the same mistake in the sixth. Second baseman Colby Price's bomb to left extended his team's lead to 4-1. National Player of the Week Preston Springer had seen enough and blasted a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to pull the Shocks within a run, 4-3.

Furmanek struck again in the seventh as his base knock drove in centerfielder Joey Winiecki to add more cushion to his team's lead. Sequeira added another with two outs before senior Clint McKeever took the mound.

In a strange turn of events, McKeever was stalled by a power outage in one lone light pole. The umpires gave the Wichita State field crew 15 minutes to get the lights working or the game would be called.

Fourteen minutes later, the lights were working and McKeever threw a single pitch to sit Bennett Pickar on strikes and leave the bases loaded.

Cobey Guy, the Shockers ninth pitcher of the night as WSU chose to throw Tuesday's game by committee, struck out the side in his only inning of work. But that effort along with Harbutz's two-out solo shot in the bottom of the ninth wasn't enough to push past the Golden Eagles, and they fell 6-4.

-Wichita State-