WICHITA, Kan. — Wichita State nearly erased a five-run deficit, but ultimately left the tying and winning runs on base in the bottom of the ninth as Oral Roberts escaped with a 6-5 win on Tuesday night at Eck Stadium.

The Shockers (6-5) trailed 6-3 entering the ninth, facing off against Oral Roberts All-American closer Cade Denton. Singles from Brock Rodden, Sawyre Thornhill and Garrett Pennington opened the inning, the last of which drove in a run to make it 6-4. Denton bounced back with a strikeout for the first out of the frame, but walked Mauricio Millan and Seth Stroh to force home a run and cut the ORU lead to 6-5. Chuck Ingram fouled out to bring up David Herring, who slammed a ball to deep center that was run down by Golden Eagles centerfielder Jonah Cox for the final out.

It was a stirring rally for Wichita State, which trailed 5-0 entering the bottom of the sixth and had mustered just two singles to that point. Pennington got the Shockers on the board that inning with a solo homer to right, his fourth of the year, slicing the deficit to 5-1. Thornhill slapped an RBI single to left in the seventh, and Herring stayed hot with a run-scoring double in the eighth that pulled WSU to within 5-3.

Oral Roberts (9-4) snagged a critical insurance run in the top of the ninth, when a two-out single from Cox prompted two throwing errors from Shockers reliever Jace Miner, the second of which came on a bizarre play in which Miner was attempting to toss the ball out of play to get a new baseball. The miscues allowed Cox to come all the way around from first, stretching the lead back to 6-3.

ORU starter Joshua Caravalho (2-1) was excellent, allowing just two hits and two walks over five innings of work while striking out five. Drew Stahl provided the big blow for the Golden Eagles offensively, a three-run homer in the top of the fifth that gave Oral Roberts their largest lead of the night.

Caden Favors (1-1) took the loss for Wichita State, allowing seven hits and four runs over a career-high-tying 4.2 innings.

The Shockers will be right back in action on Wednesday, traveling to Lawrence for a midweek matchup against Kansas. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 PM.