Temple University Athletics
Temple Salvages Sunday Split With UMass
3.25.07 | Baseball
March 25, 2007
Game One Boxscore | Game Two Boxscore | Postgame Audio
AMBLER, PA - Temple scored seven runs over the first three innings and salvaged a doubleheader split against Massachusetts with a 9-7 win in the nightcap on Sunday at Skip Wilson Field. In the opener, junior Tom Dolan was phenomenal, allowing just one earned run in 8.2 innings, but UMass scored a pair of unearned runs with two outs in the ninth to ensure the series win.
Junior Ryan Weber was 5-for-8 on the day, while classmate Stan Orzechowski had a pair of doubles among his four hits and knocked in three. Sophomores Jamie Abercrombie and Sean Barksdale went 4-for-8 and 3-for-6, respectively.
Dolan continued to pitch as well as anyone in the conference, lowering his ERA to 1.86, but dropped to 3-2 with the loss. He scattered 10 hits and struck out a career-high nine batters. A solo homerun by Bryan Adamski in the fifth was the only earned run that he has given up in his past 22.2 innings.
"I felt good out there," Dolan said. "I had some extra pop on my fastball, my slider was on and my change-up was good for the most part."
"Tommy Dolan pitched great and gave us a chance to win," Temple head coach Rob Valli said. "He just came one pitch short of closing out his fourth victory there in the ninth."
The Owls (6-13, 1-2 A-10) had 10 hits in the opener but as has been the case for most of the season, struggled with runners in scoring position, batting 1-for-10 in the contest. TU got on the board in the third on a RBI single by Barksdale. After Adamski tied the game with a solo homer in the fifth, Barksdale's sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the inning put the hosts ahead, 2-1.
The Cherry and White had first and second with no outs in the sixth, but a pickoff at second foiled the rally. Temple also had first and second in the seventh, this time with one out, but an inning-ending twin-killing squashed any hope at an insurance run.
After Adamski's homerun, Dolan showed no signs of fatigure, allowing just two singles. He retired the first batter of the ninth on a foul pop-up, but Mike Donato reached on an error and advanced to second on the throw. Dolan battled to strikeout Jim Cassidy for the second out, but a RBI double by Lou Proietti tied the game at 2-2. Freshman Matt Blackburn relieved Dolan and allowed a double to Adam Tempesta that put UMass ahead for good.
The Owls went down in order in the ninth, giving Aaron Smith his second save of the season. Freshman Jared Freni (1-1) pitched well for the Minutemen (4-7, 2-1 A-10) and picked up his first collegiate win. He scattered 10 hits over eight innings, allowing two earned runs and struck out two.
Abercrombie, Barksdale (two RBI), Weber and junior Devon Swope all had a pair of hits in the opener.
The bats came alive in the second game, scoring seven runs in the first three frames behind sophomore starter Matt Mongiardini. An RBI double by junior Mike Kelch scored Barksdale in the first and TU exploded for six in the third.
Weber, Barksdale and Kelch all singled to load the bases to start the inning. Swope's groundout plated Weber and after a single by Abercrombie, a two-run single from freshman Matt Heltz made the score 4-0. Sophomore Kyle Obal then lofted a high fly-ball to center that looked like it would end the inning. It was dropped, however, allowing two unearned runs to score. Orzechowski then singled home Obal for the inning's sixth run.
UMass scored one in the fourth and four in the fifth to close the gap. Temple added a pair of insurance runs in the fifth and seventh innings, each on RBI doubles by Orzechowski to make the score 9-5. The extra cushion was needed as the Minutemen scored two runs in the eighth on a double by Jim MacDonald. Blackburn pitched a scoreless ninth for his first collegiate save to give Temple its first conference win of the season.
Mongiardini (2-3) picked up the win after allowing six earned runs in seven innings. He gave up just four hits, but walked four. Cassidy (0-1) suffered the loss after giving up four earned runs in 2.1 innings.
Orzechowski had a big game in the nightcap, driving in three runs on a 3-for-5 day with a pair of doubles. Weber also had three hits.
"We had a great chance to win two, if not three this weekend," Valli said. "I think it's a matter of us playing well and giving ourselves a chance to win the series."
Temple visits Delaware on Tuesday in the first round of the Liberty Bell Classic. First pitch is set for 3 PM.
