Temple University Athletics
Temple Falls To La Salle, 8-7, In 11 Innings
4.1.07 | Baseball
April 1, 2007
PHILADELPHIA - La Salle's Billy Kern singled with two outs in the 11th inning to drive in the game-winning run and give the Explorers the series victory with an 8-7 win over Temple on Sunday at Hank DeVincent Field. The contest was similar to Friday's affair, decided in the final at-bat, this time with La Salle scoring six unanswered runs to complete the comeback. Junior Ryan Weber had three hits, including a double, for the Owls.
As could have been expected by two conference and city rivals, all three games were hard-fought. All three contests were decided in the final inning, with two games going extra frames and each team scoring 16 runs total in the three-game set. Having the final at-bat as the home team, La Salle took advantage on Friday and Sunday, earning walk-off victories.
La Salle tied things up in the ninth at 7-7 on a pinch-hit single by John Vincent. The hosts had a chance to win it with Vincent winding up on third after a stolen base and a wild pitch. But Weber, who took the hill for the first time this season, recorded a fly-out and strikeout to end the inning.
The Owls had a runner on in the tenth but posed little threat and Weber allowed only a single in the bottom half of the inning. Temple went down in order in the 11th, leaving the Explorers with a chance to win it once again. Weber hit Matt Burns to lead off the inning, who then advanced to second on a sacrifice-bunt and moved to third on a groundout. Kern then singled down the left-field line to plate Burns and send the Blue and Gold into celebration for the second time in three days.
Junior Sean Barksdale launched his third homerun of the season, a two-run shot to left that gave Temple a 3-1 advantage in the sixth. La Salle scored one in the bottom of the sixth to bring the score to 3-2, but TU answered back with a four-spot in the seventh.
Junior Stan Orzechowski walked with one out and later scored on a wild pitch for the inning's first run. The big hit was junior Mike Kelch's three-run double that cleared the bases. He moved to third on an error, but was stranded there.
La Salle (9-13, 2-4 A-10) added four in its half of the frame to chase sophomore starter Matt Mongiardini. After a short stint by freshman Kyle Monahan, classmate Matt Blackburn fought out of trouble with an inning-ending strikeout.
Sophomore Jamie Abercrombie and senior Dan Brady each had two hits for Temple.
Weber (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing an earned run in 2.1 innings. TJ Chism (2-3) picked up the win with an inning of shutout relief.
"It was a very tough loss," head coach Rob Valli said. "The mettle of our team will show itself on how we respond Tuesday at Lehigh and next weekend at Dayton."
Temple (8-15, 2-4 A-10) travels to Lehigh on Tuesday at 3:30 PM for the Liberty Bell Classic semifinals. The winner moves onto the championship game at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies, on Tuesday, April 10.
