Oral Roberts rallies to beat Oregon 8-7 to even super regional

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Justin Quinn had a two-run single in the bottom of the ninth inning to rally Oral Roberts to an 8-7 victory over Oregon on Saturday night in the second game of the Eugene Super Regional.

Oral Roberts (50-12), which saw its 21-game win streak end in a 9-8 loss to Oregon in the opener, will play a rubber game against the Ducks (41-22) on Sunday for a berth in the College World Series. Both teams have made just one previous CWS appearance — Oregon in 1954 and the Golden Eagles in 1978.

Drew Cowley hit a two-out single that scored Rikuu Nishida with the tying run in the top of the fifth inning. Sabin Ceballos followed with an RBI double to put the Ducks up 5-4.

Ceballos drew a two-out walk and moved to third on a double by Tanner Smith. Drew Smith drove in both runners with a triple for a 7-4 lead in the seventh. Smith’s hit looked like it was going to be caught by Jonah Cox before Cox hit the wall and lost the ball.

Drew Stahl led off the bottom of the inning with a single and scored on a two-out double by Jake McMurray to get the Golden Eagles within two. Jonah Cox led off the eighth with a home run, extending his hitting streak to 46 games and pulling Oral Roberts within 7-6.

The Golden Eagles’ winning rally started with back-to-back one-out singles by Jacob Godman and Blaze Brothers — the No. 8 and 9 hitters in the lineup. Jake McMurray walked to load the bases before Quinn delivered.

Cade Denton (3-1) worked the final 3 1/3 innings to get the win. He allowed two runs on four hits and two walks, striking out three.

Josh Mollerus (3-3) took the loss after retiring just one batter in the ninth.