Temple University Athletics
NUNAN'S DIVING CATCH PRESERVES 3-2 WIN OVER HAWAII-HILO
3.4.06 | Baseball
HILO, HI -- Sophomore Frank Nunan made a diving catch in left-center with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth to preserve a 3-2 win at Hawaii-Hilo on Saturday. Senior Tim Foulkrod twirled six innings, scattering three hits and allowing one earned run, to pick up his first victory of the season. The win was the first for new head coach Rob Valli.
A pair of walks and a two-out error gave the Vulcans (3-12) bases loaded in the ninth. Leadoff batter Christopher Campbell worked a full-count against sophomore reliever Eric Fritz and then fouled off two pitches before hitting a line-drive into the left-center gap. With the game on the line, Nunan dove fully-extended and snagged the potential game-winner.
"Everyone thought that (Tom) Dolan had a better break on it," Nunan said. "But the batter was a lefty, so the ball kept tailing back towards me in left. I laid out for it and fortunately came up with the catch.
Fritz picked up his first career save by tossing three shutout innings. He has yet to give up an earned run in six innings pitched this season.
"I really thought Dolan was going to have to dive for it," Foulkrod said. "It kept tailing back towards Frankie though. It was one heckuva catch."
Temple (1-3) got on the board in the first. Nunan drew a two-out walk and moved to third on a single by junior Dan Brady. A single by senior Marc Wagner gave the Owls an early 1-0 lead.
Hawaii-Hilo scored its only run off Foulkrod (1-1) in the second, but the Owls answered back in the third. Sophomore Devon Swope reached on an error and advanced to third on consecutive wild pitches. Nunan then drove him in with a two-out single. He has now hit safely in all four games this season and carries a nine-game hitting streak.
Meanwhile, Foulkrod continued to mow down the UHH lineup. He retired 12 of the next 13 batters before giving way to Fritz after six innings.
The Owls scored the eventual game-winner in the fifth as a walk to Wagner scored freshman Mike Sweet, who had singled. TU could have had much more, but left the bases loaded in the frame.
Seven Owls all had a single base-hit in the contest. Wagner drove in two runs to pace the Cherry and White offense.
UHH's Cadian Hendricks (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing an earned run in 1.2 innings. Jimmy Crider had two doubles for the Vulcans.
The teams will resume the seven-game series tomorrow at noon (5 p.m. EST).
