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By Matt McLeod
 The
Oral Roberts University baseball team began the quest for a fifth
straight Mid-Continent Conference title, Feb. 15, at home against
Missouri Southern University.
The Golden Eagles are coming off a 48-13 campaign from last year that
saw them play in a fourth straight NCAA Tournament as well.
The team looks to preseason first-team All-American Michael Rogers
to lead the way. Rogers, a right-handed pitcher from Artesia, NM,
was 14-1 with a 2.37 ERA last season and set the school record with
137 strikeouts. Following the 2001 season, Rogers was a second-team
All-American selection by Collegiate Baseball newspapers, third-team
All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA),
and the Mid-Con Co-Pitcher of the Year.
The Golden Eagles will be solid on the mound this year as they also
return sophomore righty and 2001 Freshman All-American Rene Recio
and relief ace Dallas Martin. There is also a strong list of returning
everyday players, including Wilton Reynolds, a first-team All Mid-Con
outfielder last year; sophomore catcher David Castillo, a 2001 Freshman
All-American and senior infielder Danny Boyle.
Head coach Sunny Golloway was rewarded for the Golden Eagles' success
by being named the Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Association's 2001 Coach
of the Year. He was also named the OBCA Coach of the Year in 1998.
In six years at ORU, Golloway has a career record of 246-117.
ORU began the season ranked No. 31 in the 2002 Collegiate Baseball
Preseason Fabulous 40 Poll. The team's 2002 schedule includes games
against four fellow teams ranked in the Fabulous 40. They opened up
the season at the Arizona State Bill Kajikawa Baseball Classic with
a 9-1 win over Southern Utah, a 9-10 loss to Oregon State in 10 innings,
and a 4-5 loss to No. 17 Arizona State.
March 11-16 the team will travel to No. 11 Fresno State to play in
the Pepsi Classic. The schedule also includes three games against
No. 10 Oklahoma State and a three-game road series at No. 18 Baylor.
The Golden Eagles will open Mid-Con conference play April 6 at Western
Illinois. ORU finished 24-1 in conference play last year and look
to continue conference dominance as the Mid-Continent Tournament will
return to Tulsa, May 23-25. The Mid-Con's top four regular season
finishers will compete for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
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