Box Score Rochester, Mich. (May 6, 2007) ???C Oakland???s baseball team dropped a 15-10 decision to visiting Oral Roberts in the final contest of a four-game Mid-Continent Conference series at OU Baseball Field this afternoon. Senior Kevin Carkeek (Arlington Heights, Ill.) was 3-4 at the plate with two runs scored while senior Ryan Heath (Ostrander, Ohio) was 1-2 with three RBI to lead the Golden Grizzlies??? offense. Oakland jumped out to a 1-0 lead after one inning as sophomore Andrew Stafford (Sterling Heights, Mich.) hit a single to left field to drive home sophomore Justin Wilson (Blissfield, Mich.) from second base. The Golden Eagles scored two runs in the top of the second to go up 2-1 as Adam Younger directed a bases-loaded single to left field to drive home a pair of runs with one out on the board. The lead would not last long, however as the Golden Grizzlies evened the game 2-2 in the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice fly by Heath. The game remained deadlocked 2-2 until ORU brought in four runs in the fourth to regain the lead 6-2. Marcus Tackett???s RBI-single to center field put ORU up once again 3-2. Later in the inning Jake Kahaulelio drove home two additional runs with a bases-loaded double down the left field line. Chad Rothford???s sacrifice fly gave the Golden Eagles the 6-2 advantage. OU scored three runs in the bottom of the inning to draw within one 6-5. OU put runners on the corners as sophomore Dan Ryan (Saginaw, Mich.) and Carkeek led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Junior Dustin Joffrion (Otsego, Mich.) brought Ryan home when he reached on a fielder???s choice. Sophomore Rob Merkle (Bay City, Mich.) followed with a single to advance the runners, then Heath hit an RBI-single to left field to bring Joffion home. Merkle also came around to score on the play as the left fielder overthrew third base. The Golden Grizzlies recaptured the lead with four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Stafford started the rally with a one-out double to left field, followed by back-to-back walks by Ryan and Carkeek to load the bases. ORU pulled pitcher Michael Jarman in favor of Carlos Luna. Senior Chad DiFranco (Port Huron, Mich.) stepped to the plate as a pinch hitter and belted Luna???s first pitch of the game to right center for a two-RBI single. Merkle followed with a single off the pitcher???s calf to drive home Carkeek from third. Heath capped the four-run inning with his second sacrifice fly of the game for the 9-6 OU lead. Rothford knotted the game once again with a three-run homer to left center in the top of the sixth for the 9-9 score. ORU regained the lead as Carter McQuigg led off the seventh inning with a home run, giving the Golden Eagles the 10-9 advantage. The score remained 10-9 until the top of the ninth when Oral Roberts brought in five runs to extend the lead to 15-9. Brendan Duffy and Kelly Minissale each hit RBI singles while Kahaulelio drove home a run when he reached on a fielder???s choice. Minissale and Kahaulelio each came around to score unearned runs later in the inning. Oakland rallied in the bottom of the ninth as freshman Tommy Jablonski (Rochester Hills, Mich.) singled to lead off the inning and Stafford reached base on an error by ORU???s shortstop. Ryan singled through the left side to bring home Jablonski, but a double play ball and a line drive to the pitcher put a halt to the OU rally and the game ended 15-10 in favor of Oral Roberts. Senior RHP Billy Schmieder (Chillicothe, Ohio) earned the start for Oakland, giving up eight hits, six earned runs and four walks while striking out one in 3.1 innings. He was relieved by junior RHP Mike Takashima (Rochester Hills, Mich.), who allowed two hits and no runs while fanning two in 1.2 innings. Takashima gave way to freshman RHP Tim Barry (Skokie, Ill.), who surrendered three hits and three earned runs in 0.2 innings of work. Junior RHP Ben Darga (Milford, Mich.) was charged with the loss as he gave up three hits and one earned run in 1.2 innings. Freshman LHP Andrew Estes (Blissfield, Mich.) took over for Darga and gave up three hits and five runs (three earned) in 1.0 innings. Freshman LHP Kasey Kearcher (Otsego, Mich.) finished the game for the Golden Grizzlies, striking out the last two ORU batters of the game. Starter Chris Ashman surrendered eight hits and five runs (four earned) in 3.1 innings for Oral Roberts before being pulled in favor of Jarman. Jarman gave up one hit, three earned runs and three walks in 1.0 innings before giving way to Luna, who surrendered two hits, one earned run and one walk in 0.1 innings. Eric Mattison took the mound next, giving up one hit and no runs in 1.1 innings to earn the win for the Golden Eagles. Erik Crichton was credited with a save as he scattered two hits, one unearned run and two strikeouts across three innings. The Golden Grizzlies return to action tomorrow afternoon when they host Eastern Michigan in a non-conference game at OU Baseball Field at 4:00 p.m.