THE LEAD
No. 26 DBU fell to Oral Roberts 12-7 in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Horner Ballpark. ORU's Nick Roark went four-for-six with four RBIs and two runs scored, including a three-run homerun in the fourth inning.
 
Taylor Varnell picked up the win after a five-inning day, allowing three runs on eight hits with four strikeouts. Dalton Higgins was credited with the loss, giving up eight runs on 11 hits in 3 1/3 innings of work. Brady Womack earned the three-inning save and held the Patriots hitless and scoreless down the stretch.
 
Oral Roberts jumped out to an early lead with five consecutive hits to start the game that brought three Golden Eagles across the plate. ORU tacked on a fourth run on Trevor McCutchin's sacrifice fly that allowed Brent Williams to score. A second wild pitch by Higgins brought in Rolando Martinez for a 5-0 lead.
 
DBU began chipping away at the lead in the bottom of the first, beginning with a leadoff triple by shortstop Camden Duzenack. Center fielder David Martinelli flew out to deep center field to knock in Duzenack to cut the lead to 5-1. ORU took an 8-1 lead in the top of the fourth on a three-run homerun by Nick Roark, forcing Higgins out of the game. McCutchin picked up his second and third RBIs of the game with a two-run single in the top of the fifth to extend the Golden Eagle lead to 10-1.
 
After two base hits began the DBU half of the sixth inning, second baseman Luke Stratman sent a ball over the wall in right-center to cut ORU's lead to 10-4. Martinelli repeated his first inning at bat with a sacrifice fly that allowed Daniel Sweet to cross the plate. Justin Wall continued the sixth inning rally with an RBI single that trimmed the lead to 10-6. After the Golden Eagles brought in reliever Jake Morrison, first baseman Darick Hall singled in Wall to make it 10-7.
 
The Golden Eagles picked up a couple insurance runs with a two-RBI ground-rule double from Noah Cummings in the top of the eighth after reliever Sean Stutzman loaded the bases with two outs.
 
COACH DAN HEEFNER – ON THE LOSS
"Oral Roberts is a competitive team and they play the game well. They had a great approach at the plate and challenged us today."
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 - The loss marks the first home series DBU has lost since April 2014 vs. Evansville.
 - DBU allowed an opponent to score first for the first time this season.
 - The Patriots continued their success hitting with two outs, going 6-for-14 with two RBIs on Sunday.
 
IN THE NUMBERS
7 – DBU's leadoff hitters reached base in seven of the nine innings.
13 – Patriots hitters left 13 runners on base, including a runner on third in the third, fourth and fifth innings.
9 – All nine of DBU's starting nine hitters got at least one hit.
 
UP NEXT FOR THE PATRIOTS
DBU hosts Texas Southern on Tuesday, March 1, at Horner Ballpark.  First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.