CHICKASHA – St. Gregory's junior Ben Moore pitched eight innings of shutout ball and Jacob Ratliff extended his hitting streak to 10 games, helping the Cavaliers to a doubleheader split with USAO Friday at Bill Smith Ballpark. Moore out-dueled Drover starter Blake McMullen in a 1-0 SGU win in the opener before USAO used an eight-run third en route to a 9-7 victory in the nightcap.

Moore struck out a career-high 10 and improved to 7-3 on the season. Ratliff went 3-for-6 with three RBIs on the day. He is hitting .455 over the last 10 games.

Matt Blackwell's RBI fielder's choice in the eighth inning of the opener scored Jordan Funtila from third, proving to be the difference in the extra-inning affair. Funtila led off the inning with a double down the left-field line and advanced to third on a passed ball. That led to Blackwell's go-ahead grounder to first, as Funtila beat the throw home.

Moore went the distance for his eighth complete game in 10 starts. He scattered five hits and walked only one, improving his team-best ERA to 3.01. He retired 18 of the last 21 batters he faced.

The Cavs had seven hits in all – three of them by catcher Mark Milioto. It was Milioto's ninth multi-hit game of the season. Funtila's eighth-inning double was SGU's only extra-base hit of the game.

SGU (15-25, 3-15 SAC) kept its momentum going into the nightcap, as Ratliff got the scoring started with an RBI base hit to right. Later in the inning, Blackwell scored when Roberto Celestino was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, making it 2-0 Cavs.

SGU's lead was short-lived, however, as the home team exploded for eight runs on four hits in the third. That scoring was capped by Daniel Edwards' three-run home run – his first of the season.

The visitors battled back in the fourth, scoring four runs on only one hit – a Ratliff two-run home run – to trim the lead to 8-6. The Cavs took advantage of two walks, an error and a hit batsman in the inning. The long ball was Ratliff's third of the year.

That was as close as SGU would get, though. The Cavs got the tying run to the plate in Celestino in the seventh, but the senior hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game.

Ratliff suffered the loss, dropping his seventh consecutive decision since beginning the season 2-0. He pitched three innings, giving up eight runs on six hits. Ratliff walked two and hit three batters.

The two teams conclude their regular-season series Saturday at Bill Nicklas Field in Shawnee. The first game of the doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m.