Temple University Athletics
Dolan's Gem Finishes Off Sweep Of Buffalo With 9-0 Victory
3.11.07 | Baseball
March 11, 2007
AMBLER, PA - Junior Tom Dolan threw eight shutout innings and the Temple offense pounded out a season-high 17 hits in finishing off the sweep of Buffalo on Sunday with a 9-0 win at Skip Wilson Field. Dolan scattered seven hits and lowered his team-best ERA to 2.25 in improving to 2-1 on the season. Sophomore Sean Barksdale went 4-for-4 with three RBI in the nightcap and was a total of 6-for-6 with four RBI on the day.
Dolan was effective once again, mixing an upper 80s fastball with a hard-biting slider to keep Buffalo off the board. The Bulls advanced just two runners past second base and Dolan only ran into serious trouble in the eighth. He fought out of a second and third, one out jam and gave way to freshman Matt Blackburn in the ninth. Blackburn pitched a perfect inning to give TU its first doubleheader sweep since May 15, 2005 (St. Bonaventure).
"Tommy didn't have his best stuff today, but he bulldogged it through eight innings today for us," Temple head coach Rob Valli said. "He threw well enough to put eight zeros on the board today and gave us a chance to score some runs for him."
The game was much closer than the final score indicated, as Temple held a 4-0 lead up until the eighth. The Owls scored five runs in the frame to put the game away. Two run doubles by junior Ryan Weber and senior Dan Brady each had two-run doubles in the inning and Barksdale added a RBI single to account for the scoring. Brady's double extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
Barksdale's bases-loaded walk in the first gave the Cherry and White its first run and he also had a RBI triple in the three-run third. Sophomore Lenny Del Grippo and junior Devon Swope each had RBI singles in the frame.
Barksdale was on fire for the day, putting four singles, a double and a triple together for a six-hit day over two games. He raised his average from .229 to .315 with the six safeties.
Nick Walczak and James Piazza each had a pair of hits for Buffalo (1-8). Steve Geltz (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing four earned runs in three innings.
Temple (4-9) travels to Philadelphia Big 5 rival Penn on Wednesday at 3 PM.
