Temple University Athletics
OWLS CAPTURE DOUBLEHEADER SWEEP WITH LATE INNING HEROICS
4.5.03 | Baseball
In game one, Dayton (8-18, 1-6) jumped on Owl starter Matt Powell (Holland, Pa/Council Rock) for all five of its runs in the first inning. Following a one-out walk, left fielder Tom Beechem hit a two-run homer to right field. With two outs, Dayton loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batter. Powell's wildness would come back to hurt as Joe McSorley cleared the bases with a three-run double to left.
Temple (7-13, 1-3), trailing 5-1, came back to score three in the home fourth. Rob Cucinotta (Drexel Hill, Pa/Monsignor Bonnor) and Al Roach (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) started the uprising with singles. Shortstop Jason Connor (Norristown, Pa/Kennedy Kendrick) doubled in two runs while Gene Burpoe (Arlington, Va/Wakefield) plated the third run of the inning by drawing a walk with the bases loaded.
Meanwhile, Powell (1-4) did not allow another hit and retired the last 18 of 20 batters he faced keeping the Owls in the game until the seventh.
With one out, Connor doubled down the right field line. Jeff Roma (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) scored Connor with the tying run with a sharp single to right center. Following a walk, right fielder Pete Colon (Birdsboro, Pa/Daniel Boone) deposited a 3-2 pitch into left field to score pinch-runner Matt Mondok (West Middlesex, Pa/West Middlesex) with the winning run.
The victory was the first conference win of the season for the Owls and head coach Skip Wilson's 981st of his career.
The second game was a tightly contested game with both teams scoring a run in the fifth inning. Temple's Justin Mendek (Blackwood, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) and Dayton's Tim Miller both pitched well. Mendek went five and a third innings allowing just the one run on four hits while Miller went the distance.
The Owls scored the winning run with one out in the eighth. Connor doubled with one out and following an intentional walk to catcher Jeff Roma, Fred Hilliard (Broomall/Pa/Upper Darby) singled up the middle as the Owls won their sixth game in a row and third game in a row in its last at-bat.
Reliever Chris Kurtz (4-0) came on to pitch the last inning and a third to pick up his fourth win of the season and his third this week.
The two teams meet again on Sunday at 12 Noon at Erny Field to complete the three-game series.
