Temple University Athletics
George Mason Scores Eleven Unanswered To Top Temple, 18-16
5.2.07 | Baseball
May 2, 2007
FAIRFAX, VA - George Mason scored 11 unanswered runs, including three with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, to rally back from a 16-7 deficit midway through the fifth inning to win a wild mid-week affair over Temple, 18-16, on Wednesday at Spuhler Field. The Owls' 16 runs were the most scored in a losing effort since falling to Rollins, 18-16, on March 6, 1998. Junior Stan Orzechowski was a triple short of the cycle and knocked in three runs, while freshman Matt Heltz smashed a grand slam in the first inning and drove in a career-high six.
Temple amazingly scored all 16 runs in its first five at-bats and led 16-7 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. The Owls received home runs from Orzechowski, Heltz and sophomore Sean Barksdale to match the Patriots' three round-trippers on the day. Barksdale drove in four runs on the day and sophomore Kyle Obal had three singles and drove in two runs.
The Cherry and White got on the board with five unearned runs in the first, four off the bat of Heltz, who hit his first collegiate grand slam with two outs in the frame. Barksdale also drove in a run in the inning on a sacrifice fly. The lead was short-lived, as George Mason answered back with five runs in the bottom of the inning.
An Orzechowski home run, his fifth of the year, gave TU a 6-5 lead in the second and the visitors added five more in the third. Orzechowski had a two-run double, leaving him just a triple short of the cycle after three innings, and Barksdale hit a three-run home run to center to put the Owls ahead, 11-5. It was Barksdale's team-leading sixth homerun of the season.
The Patriots (24-21) added two runs in the third without a base-hit, as three walks, an error and a hit batter cut the deficit to 11-7. Obal knocked in a run in the fourth and sophomore Carmen Del Mastro had an RBI-bunt single for the second straight day. Temple added three more in the fifth, thanks to Heltz's two-run double and a run-scoring single by Obal. Leading 16-7, it looked like the Owls would record their fifth win in the past seven games.
Things began to come unraveled for TU in the fifth, as GMU scored five in the inning. Back-to-back home runs by the Bour brothers, a three-run blast by Justin and a solo-shot by Jason, capped the five-run fifth. Chris Fournier had a two-run homer as part of the three-run sixth to cut the deficit to 16-15. Freshman Mike Click threw a scoreless seventh for the Owls, but Mason tied the game and took the lead in the eighth.
Spencer Wiggins led off the inning with a single to chase Click for freshman Matt Blackburn. Blackburn recorded two groundouts, but three straight hits gave the hosts the lead for good. Temple went down in order in the ninth to fall to 16-27 on the season. It was the seventh time this season that TU lost after holding the lead after seven innings.
Blackburn (1-3) suffered the loss by surrendering two earned runs in one inning of relief. T.J. O'Grady (2-0) earned the win with a perfect eighth inning and Jordan Flasher nailed down his 12th save of the year for the Patriots.
Orzechowski moved into a tie for seventh place on the single-season doubles list with his 16th two-bagger of the season. Junior Tom Dolan, Weber and Del Mastro all had two hits on the day.
Temple travels to Fordham (23-19, 11-7 A-10) for a three-game Atlantic 10 series beginning on Friday at 7 PM.
