WICHITA, Kan. – Wichita State scored four times in the bottom of the second and never trailed, defeating Oral Roberts 6-4 on the home opener Tuesday afternoon at Eck Stadium.

The victory marked the fourth in a row and the sixth in the last seven games for the Shockers (6-7). Oral Roberts (9-3) saw their eight-game winning streak snapped.
 
The Shockers got three-hit performances from Will Stark and Andrew Stewart to pace a 14-hit attack. Stark's hits were the first of his collegiate career, while Stewart tied a career high with three knocks.

Those two were at the heart of Wichita State's big inning in the second. A pair of singles put runners at the corners for Ross Cadena, who laid down a safety squeeze bunt to drive home Xavier Casserilla with the game's first run. Stark followed by lashing a two-out RBI single into left center, doubling the lead at 2-0. Stewart and Brock Rodden kept the line moving with RBI singles of their own, staking the Shockers to a 4-0 lead against Oral Roberts starter Andrew Roach (0-1).

Oral Roberts broke through with an unearned run in the fourth when Alec Jones slapped a two-out RBI single, trimming the lead to 4-1. The run was charged to Wichita State starter Cameron Bye, who went a career-best three innings, allowing just two hits and the one unearned run.

Payton Tolle got the run right back for Wichita State in the bottom of the fifth with a towering solo home run to straightaway center, one of two extra-base hits on the day for the freshman. Tolle has now recorded four consecutive two-hit games.

LJ McDonough (2-1) came out of the Shocker bullpen to fire zeroes into the seventh, but ran into trouble in that inning when three consecutive Golden Eagles reached with one out, the last on an RBI double from Jake McMurray that made it a 6-2 game. Foster Gifford got the final two outs of the inning for Wichita State, but not before ORU brought home two more runs to slice the deficit to 6-4.

Grayson Jones delivered a clean 1-2-3 eighth inning, setting the stage for Connor Holden in the ninth. After a leadoff double, Holden struck out the next three Golden Eagles, nailing down his fourth save of the season.

The Shockers continue the homestand on Friday afternoon against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 pm.