Temple University Athletics
DELGRIPPO CARRIES TEMPLE TO 7-6 WIN AT XAVIER
5.7.06 | Baseball
CINCINNATI, OH -- Freshman Lenny DelGrippo hit two homers and drove in a career-high six runs as Temple won its second straight Atlantic 10 series with a 7-6 win over Xavier on Sunday at Hayden Field. The rookie hit a grand slam in the third and added a two-run shot in the fifth to put the Owls ahead, 7-1. It marks the first time since April of 2003 that TU has won consecutive A-10 series.
The two teams played close games for the third consecutive day, with two games being decided by one run and the other coming in extra innings. Unlike the previous two contests, where pitching dominated the majority of the game, both teams got on the board early on Sunday. Xavier scored a run in the first off sophomore starter Tom Dolan but could have had more. Facing a bases-loaded, two-out situation, Dolan struck out Danny Hayden to end the threat.
The Owls tied the score in the second on a RBI-double by freshman Casey Sellen and added four more in the third on DelGrippo's slam. Freshman Jamie Abercrombie walked to lead off the inning and sophomore Devon Swope singled. Junior Dan Brady followed with a single, the 100th of his collegiate career, to load the bases. DelGrippo then slammed his second homerun of the year over the fence in left-center to give the Owls a 5-1 lead.
XU (14-36, 4-17 A-10) answered with two runs in the fifth to cut the deficit to 5-3, but DelGrippo again cleared the fence with a two-run dinger to left. The Musketeers tried to rally back, cutting into the lead with two runs in the seventh and another in the eighth, and trailed 7-6 heading into their final at-bat.
After a Xavier lead-off single in the ninth, senior Tim Foulkrod replaced sophomore Eric Fritz and retired the next three batters to record his third save of the season.
Dolan (3-3) picked up the win after throwing 7.1 innings and allowing six earned runs. He struck out four batters to win his second straight decision. Steve Sakosits (0-2) suffered the loss for XU.
Abercrombie, Swope, Sellen and freshman Steve Mury each had two hits for Temple.
The Owls (11-35, 5-14 A-10) last won back-to-back conference series on April 5-6 and 12-13, 2003 when they swept Dayton and took two-of-three from Saint Joseph's.
The Cherry and White hosts Delaware on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
