DALLAS (Interstat) — The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles capitalized on a chaotic first inning and weathered a late push from the Dallas Baptist Patriots to secure an 8-6 victory in a nonconference baseball game Saturday afternoon at Ellis Davis Field House.

The game’s pivotal sequence occurred before many fans had settled into their seats. The Golden Eagles sent 10 batters to the plate in the top of the first, scoring five runs—only two of which were earned—on four hits, two errors, and a sacrifice fly. Makani Tanaka reached on an error to start the game, setting the tone for the frame. Cooper Combs, Weston Kane-Yate, and Cooper Kelly followed with run-scoring singles, and Wyatt Edmunson added a sacrifice fly. The Patriots’ defense committed two errors, extending the inning and allowing Oral Roberts to build a substantial early lead.

Dallas Baptist responded immediately in the bottom half, demonstrating the game would not be a rout. After a leadoff double by Kellen Grady, Jake Bennett launched a two-run homer to left field. The Patriots then loaded the bases and plated two more runs, one on a sacrifice fly and another on an RBI single by Chayton Krauss, taking advantage of an Oral Roberts error to close the gap to 5-4.

Oral Roberts starter Conner Johnson settled after the turbulent first, but the Golden Eagles added to their lead in the fourth. Tanaka doubled and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Kane-Yate, following an RBI groundout from Combs that scored Hunter Ellis, making it 8-4.

The most important part of the game came in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Dallas Baptist mounted its most serious threat. After a walk to Luke Underhill, Krauss connected for a two-run homer to right field, pulling the Patriots within two runs and chasing Johnson from the game. Oral Roberts manager brought in reliever Weston Rouse with a runner on first and no outs.

Rouse, the top star for Oral Roberts, extinguished the rally and dominated the rest of the way. He entered and promptly picked off the inherited runner, then retired the next seven batters he faced. Over 3 2/3 perfect innings, Rouse struck out four and allowed no hits to earn the save, preserving the lead his offense had built.

Oral Roberts added an insurance run in the ninth on a bases-loaded walk by Kelly, but Rouse made it unnecessary, setting down the Patriots in order in the bottom of the ninth to seal the win.

The victory improved Oral Roberts to 5-6 overall, while Dallas Baptist fell to 7-4. The Golden Eagles’ 11-hit attack was led by Combs, who went 3 for 5 with two RBIs, and Tanaka, who finished 2 for 4 with three runs scored. Krauss led the Patriots’ six-hit effort, going 2 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs.

The result avenged a one-run loss for Oral Roberts in the series opener on Thursday and defied pregame projections. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a Dallas Baptist win with a final score of 7-3, and its ELO system gave the Patriots a 74.3% probability of victory.

Both teams used strong bullpen performances beyond Rouse. For Dallas Baptist, Michael Benzor threw 2 1/3 hitless innings with four strikeouts, and Liam Watt allowed one run over 2 1/3 frames.

Oral Roberts continues its road swing with a game at Arkansas on Tuesday. Dallas Baptist concludes its series with Air Force on Sunday before traveling to face Oklahoma on Tuesday.