Temple University Athletics
2001 Season Review in Brief
8.1.01 | Baseball
In his 42nd year at the helm of the Owls, head coach James "Skip" Wilson guided his team back from a devastating 0-14 start to win the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship and qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 17 years ... The early non-conference slate included the likes of nationally ranked Tulane and UC Santa Barbara ... After the long losing streak, the team went on an offensive tear and won 10 of its next 12 games ... The Owls opened the A-10 season winning 11 of 14 ... Temple also played into the championship final of the Liberty Bell Classic for a second-straight year, where it suffered a narrow 9-8 loss to Delaware in a thrilling extra-inning game at Veterans Stadium ... In the A-10 Tournament at Orlando, the Owls defeated Dayton, UMass and George Washington to capture the program's first conference title since 1984 ... In the NCAA Tournament, Temple traveled to Southern California, where it was eliminated in two games, falling to national No. 1-seed Cal State Fullerton and Texas Tech ... Senior pitcher Greg Powell, senior third-baseman Kyle Sweppenhiser All-Atlantic 10 Conference first team ... Junior first baseman Rob Cucinotta, senior pitcher Jeff Rugg and Powell (three times) named A-10 Players of the Week ... Sweppenhiser, the Most Outstanding Player of the A-10 Tournament, led a group of five all-tournament selections, including Powell, Cucinotta, junior shortstop Jim Tully and junior right-fielder Joe Lyall ... Coach Wilson was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year.
