Oct. 25, 2011

Oral Roberts to join Southland Conference

Oral Roberts has announced that it will leave the Summit League and move to the Southland Conference for the 2012-13 academic year.

The Golden Eagles have competed in the Summit League since the 1997-98 academic year. ORU has won 14 consecutive Summit League baseball championships, including the past eight under current head coach Rob Walton.

The Southland Conference is losing three members next year as Texas State, UTSA and UT Arlington head to the Western Athletic Conference. ORU will join Central Arkansas, Lamar, McNeese State, Nicholls, Northwestern State, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, Southeastern Louisiana and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the 10-team league.

The Southland Conference is more geographically compact that the Summit League. The Southland has its teams in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. The Summit stretched from Utah to Michigan and Louisiana.

(photos by Dennis Hubbard)