STEPHENVILLE, Texas – The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles brought three runs home in the ninth inning to escape Stephenville with a 9-6 win over Tarleton on Tuesday afternoon at the Tarleton Baseball Complex.
 
Tarleton (11-6) fell for the second time this season to the Golden Eagles (10-7) and moved to 2-2 in midweek contests.
 
The two squads were tied at six heading into the ninth inning. ORU went on to score three runs on four hits in the top of the ninth which the Texans could not overcome. Grant Garza (L, 2-1) was credited with the loss for Tarleton after throwing the final 2.0 innings allowing three runs on five hits, striking out two.
 
Oral Roberts struck first with two runs in the first inning off two hits. Tarleton immediately answered as Jack Wagner hit his fifth home run of the season in the bottom of the first, a two-run bomb over left field that scored Cole Miears and tied the game at two.
 
Isiah Campa got the start on the mound for Tarleton and pitched 1.2 innings in his second appearance this year. He allowed two runs on three hits and struck out one. He made way for Devon Patel in the second inning who threw 2.0 scoreless innings, allowing a lone hit and striking out one.
 
Tarleton broke through in the fourth inning with four runs, all coming with two outs. Mason Crews hit an RBI double down the left field line, scoring Dylan Kurahashi-Choy Foo to make it 3-2. Three straight Texans walked to score another run, making it 4-2 as Miears walked. Wagner then singled through the right side of the ORU defense to score Payton Pennington to make it 5-2. The final run of the inning came on another bases loaded walk as Cris Enriquez walked on four pitches to score Mason Hammonds and make it 6-2.
 
The Golden Eagles added three runs in the fifth, making it 6-5. They got another run back in the top of the seventh as Matt Hogan hit a solo home run to right field, tying it at 6-6.
 
ORU relievers Caleb Isaacs and Cade Denton (W, 1-0) held the Texans scoreless over the final 5.0 frames. Isaacs threw 3.2 innings, allowing no runs on three hits, striking out three. Denton tossed the final 1.2 allowing just one hit and earning his first win of the 2023 season.
 
Wagner led Tarleton with two hits and three RBI. He now has 19 hits and 22 RBI on the season. Crews added two hits and an RBI. Jonah Cox led ORU offensively with three hits and four RBI, with Hogan following behind with three hits and three RBI.
 
Tarleton will now look to its weekend series vs. UIW at the Tarleton Baseball Complex this weekend. Game one first pitch is Friday at 6 p.m. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.