Temple University Athletics
OWLS RECEIVE CLUTCH HITTING IN SWEEP OF BONNIES
5.13.05 | Baseball
AMBLER, PA -- Temple put it all together on Friday, receiving clutch hitting, strong pitching, and near flawless defense in sweeping a doubleheader from the defending A-10 champion St. Bonaventure Bonnies at Ambler Field. Trailing 2-0 going into the fifth of the opener, the Owls scored seven runs in their final two at-bats to win, 7-5. In the nightcap, a sophomore Dan Brady RBI-single in the eighth inning drove in senior Mike Weckenman to give the hosts a 5-4 victory. TU has now won a season-high three straight games.
The Bonnies (24-24, 8-15 A-10) tacked on single runs in the second and fifth innings and held a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the fifth. Freshmen Frank Nunan and Tom Dolan singled to lead-off the frame and moved up a base on senior Justin Cooper's sacrifice bunt. After a pop-up, senior Jason Connor came through with a clutch two-out double to plate two runs and tie the game. Weckenman then smoked an RBI-double to center to score Connor and give Temple (14-31, 6-14) a 3-2 lead.
St. Bonaventure scored three runs on four hits, including two doubles, in the sixth to go ahead 5-3. The Owls refused to give up, however, and plated four runs in the bottom half of the inning to earn the win.
Senior Matt Lafferty doubled to open the frame and Nunan followed with a single to left. Dolan then legged out his third infield hit of the game with a soft grounder to short that scored Lafferty. Cooper then picked a perfect time for his 100th career hit, a two-run single up the middle that put the Cherry and White ahead, 6-5. After walks to Connor (intentional) and Weckenman, senior Pete Colon lofted a sacrifice fly to drive in Cooper for a two-run lead heading into the seventh.
Sophomore Chris McCafferty pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning and earned his second straight complete-game victory. The right-hander allowed five runs in seven innings and struck out three batters to improve to 3-7. Connor and Nunan both had a pair of hits for TU.
John Zinnicker (3-5) suffered the loss for SBU in relief of starter Brian Pellegrini, who left the game after one inning with an apparent back injury. Zinnicker allowed seven earned runs in 4.1 innings pitched.
The nightcap was a rollercoaster affair that needed extra innings to decide. Temple took an early 3-0 lead after two innings of SBU starter Mike Proctor. In the first, senior Harry Ley singled and moved to second on a throwing error with one out. Connor followed with a single of his own to advance Ley to third. Proctor then balked on a Connor steal attempt, which scored Ley, and Weckenman lined a sacrifice fly to rightfield to give TU a 2-0 lead.
Lafferty legged out a stand-up triple to open the second inning and scored on a Nunan sacrifice fly to put the Owls ahead 3-0, but St. Bonaventure came roaring back in the fourth.
The Bonnies scored three runs (one earned) in the inning off Weckenman, who had only allowed one hit up to that point. Temple wasted no time getting back on top, as Dolan (5-for-6 on the day) drove in Brady, who had doubled, to put TU up, 4-3.A Bonnie run in the fifth tied up the game at 4-4.
SBU knocked on the door in the sixth and eighth innings but could not plate the winning run. In the sixth, Weckenman fought out of a two-out, bases-loaded jam and was lifted in the eighth after runners reached first and second with two outs. Senior Chris Hamilton shut the door, getting Pellegrini, the reigning A-10 Player of the Week, to flyout to center.
Weckenman (3-for-3) singled up the middle, advanced to second on Colon's sacrifice bunt, and scored on Brady's (3-for-4) RBI single to give the Owls their second walk-off win in the last three days.
Hamilton (1-3) got one out and earned the win in relief of Weckenman, who was saddled with another no-decision. The right-hander allowed two earned runs in 7.2 innings. Matt Agostinelli (4-3) took the loss for SBU.
The two teams will wrap up the series with a nine-inning game beginning at noon on Saturday. Temple will honor its ten seniors--Gene Burpoe, Colon, Connor, Cooper, Hamilton, Chris Kurtz, Lafferty, Ley, Justin Mendek and Weckenman--in pre-game ceremonies slated to begin at 11:45 a.m.
