TULSA, Okla. — Despite being outhit 17-9, BYU baseball capitalized on its scoring opportunities to defeat Oral Roberts 12-10 on Tuesday night at Chapman Park.
“Winning is hard, you can’t take it for granted,” said BYU head coach Trent Pratt. “We scored when we needed to and Ashton Johnson came in and got us outs when we really needed them.”
BYU got out to a 7-0 lead through three innings before ORU came back to tie the game 7-7 in the bottom of the fifth. The Cougars regained the lead with four runs in the sixth and held on for the win. The Golden Eagles’ 10 runs came on 17 hits with three errors and 14 runners left on base. BYU’s 12 runs followed nine hits with two errors and just six stranded.
The Cougars (15-11) are now 10-5 on the road in 2025. With 12 runs on Tuesday, BYU has now scored double digit runs in three of its last four games and in eight outings this season.
Johnson earned the save for the Cougars as he took the mound with two outs in the eighth and held the Golden Eagles scoreless over the final four outs.
Outfielder Tate Gambill started for the second time this season and made the most of it with a 2-for-4 outing, including a career-high two doubles and three RBI.
“I’m really proud of Tate,” Pratt said. “He had surgery last year and missed the season but he’s the best teammate. He’s always ready. Kudos to him for how he played today.”
BYU Highlights
Tate Gambill: 2-4, 3 RBI, 2 2B
Bryker Hurdsman: 2-4, 3 Runs, 2B
Easton Jones: 1-4, Run, 2 RBI, HR
Keoni Painter: 1-4, 2 Runs
Brett Hansen: 2.2 IP, 4 SO
Game Summary
BYU struck first with a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Tate Gambill drove in Bryker Hurdsman with a sacrifice fly after Hurdsman reached on a single and advanced to third on an ORU error.
The bats heated up for both teams in the third inning with a combined 11 runs scored. BYU ballooned its lead to 7-0 in the top of the inning as it batted through the order for six runs on four hits.
Ryker Schow earned a leadoff walk before advancing into scoring position on a Painter single. Ryder Robinson plated Schow with a sacrifice fly and sent Painter to third who scored moments later on an ORU wild pitch.
It wasn’t long before BYU had the bases loaded with an infield single from Anderson, a Vest hit by pitch and a Hurdsman walk. Parker Goff scored Anderson and Vest for the 5-0 lead with a single to left. Gambill followed with a RBI double to plate Hurdsman before Easton Jones finished the BYU scoring burst with another sacrifice fly, this one scoring Goff.
The Golden Eagles responded with a 7-0 run of their own over the next two-and-a-half innings, scoring five runs on five hits in the home half of the third then addeing another with two hits and a BYU error in the fourth. A leadoff solo shot then squared the game 7-7 through five innings.
After a scoreless fourth and fifth, the Cougars rebuilt an 11-7 lead with four runs on two hits in the sixth.
Jones registered BYU’s first run of the inning with a solo homer over the left field wall. A hit batsman and pair of walks loaded the bases for the Cougars as Anderson came to the plate and earned a walk and scored Schow. The final runs of the inning came on a Vest single that scored Painter from third and a Golden Eagle wild pitch that plated Robinson.
ORU clawed back within two, 11-9, in the bottom of the sixth with two runs on three hits sparked by a two-out RBI double.
A two-out RBI double into short right in the bottom of the eighth further trimmed BYU’s lead to 11-10. Ashton Johnson took the mound for the Cougars with two outs and runners on second and third. Johnson piped in an 89 mile-per-hour fastball for a swinging third strike that sent the Cougars to the ninth clinging to a one-run lead.
BYU tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth. Hurdsman led off the inning with a double, then reached third on a Goff groundout. Gambill plated Hurdsman for the 12-10 lead with his second double of the night, this one down the leftfield line.
The Golden Eagles looked to complete a comeback in the bottom of the ninth with bases loaded on two singles and a walk, but Johnson held off the ORU rally and earned the save with a 2-2 swinging strikeout.
Up Next
BYU resumes its long history with former Mountain West Conference foe TCU in a three-game weekend Big 12 series at Lupton Baseball Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas, April 3-5. Watch the Cougars face the Horned Frogs on ESPN+ or listen on BYU Radio.