TULSA, Okla. – Tanner Thomas led the Utah baseball team with 10 strikeouts on the mound as the Utes fell to Oral Roberts, 6-4, in the second game of the series on Saturday afternoon.
Utah held a 4-1 lead through the top of the seventh before Oral Roberts scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to take the lead.
Thomas' 10 strikeouts was a career high. He allowed one unearned run on two hits and one walk over 5 1/3 innings pitched. The Utes used five total pitchers on the mound, including
Jacob Rebar,
Austin Moore,
Trenton Stoltz, and
Ian MacIver. It was the first career appearance for Moore and MacIver.
Utah was led at the plate by
DaShawn Keirsey, Jr., and
Dominic Foscalina, who had two hits each. Foscalina (2-for-4) had two RBI on a two-run home run while Keirsey (2-for-3) also drove in a run.
Oliver Dunn scored twice for the Utes.
Oral Roberts struck first, taking a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning with the help of an error and a pair of wild pitches. The Utes came right back in the top of the fifth as
Davis Delorefice hit a two-out double and Keirsey drove him in with an RBI single to tie the game at 1-1.
The Utes took a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning off a two-run home run from Foscalina. Utah increased its lead to 4-1 in the seventh after Chris Rowan was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and Keirsey walked, setting up an RBI single from Dunn.
Oral Roberts took a 5-4 lead with a four-run seventh inning, aided by four hits, a walk and a hit batter. The Golden Eagles increased their lead with a run in the eighth inning after two hits and a walk.
Utah and Oral Roberts play game three of the series on Sunday, Feb. 18, at 11:00 a.m. CT/10:00 a.m. MT (although reports have indicated the game could start 15 minutes early). Live video is available at
http://www.oruathletics.com/broadcast/mkfofp with live stats at
http://www.oruathletics.com/sports/bsb/2017-18/boxscores/20180218_3ftg.xml.